Driving and Attitude

The news on road accident occupy the local newspapers in Malaysia almost everyday.

I ride on the bus to go to work everyday during my tenure in Japan. As I rode on the bus, I observed every single movement very closely. One aspect that triggered my interest in this context is how attitude relates to road safety.

In Japan, the bus services (as well as other modes of public transportation) are very efficient. More importantly, the people who provide the services serve “from their hearts”.

Japanese bus drivers are very friendly. I mean really friendly that I doubt you will find similar ones in Malaysia. Let me give you several examples.

As you board on the bus and pay for the ticket, the driver would say “thank you” (and if you know some Japanese, the thank you is much longer than any other languages that I know), give some bow and a smile.

When it’s the time to move (right on schedule), he’ll close the door, and the first thing that he would say is “We are moving now, please be careful”. The bus moves right on time, and if you are late and the door has already closed, not once that I saw that the bus driver will re-open the door. He has to ensure that he moves right on time so that he will arrive at the next stops right on time as well.

Many of the drivers are extra nice. Some even remind the passengers “we are moving now, please be careful” after each bus stop. What this means is that, the reminder is not just part of the required speech, but it comes from the driver's concern so that the passengers will be aware and careful whenever the bus starts to be in motion.

You can just imagine how careful he is when he drives since he is very concerned and keeps on reminding the passengers to be careful at all times.

Tell me if ever in your life riding on a public bus in Malaysia that you came across this little experience of mine? It is actually very difficult to hear the "macho" voice of the Malaysian bus drivers unless the drivers suddenly feel irritated and start babbling over the traffic jam or a slow vehicle in front of the bus.

The fact that the busses move right on time is a very critical factor and reflects the precision culture that the Japanese are well known of. Moving right on time would ensure that they do not have to rush to the next destinations, thus reducing the pressure on the drivers themselves. Once they feel less pressured, they are more alert, more relaxed and enjoy the tasks that they are doing. More importantly, they do not feel iritated over small matters.

No wonder road accident is a non-issue in Japan.