My heart sank when I saw the police car parked at the side of the road. I had been driving in Johor Bahru and had taken a wrong turn into an ulu road.
I was so busy looking around and trying to find my way back to the main road that I didn’t realize it was a one-way street.
Made an illegal u-turn, was pulled over by the Police car
I quickly made a U-turn which was in fact illegal and was about to drive away when I spotted a police car.
I pulled over to the side of the road after being signaled to stop and nervously waited for what was to come. A few minutes later, two officers got out of the car and came up to my window.
They were both stern-faced and had papers in their hands. I was sure they were going to fine me for making an illegal U-turn.
I rolled down my window and one of the officers asked for my license and my passport. I handed it over and he started to look through it.
The other officer asked me what I was doing in the area and I explained that I had made a wrong turn. He nodded and then asked why I had made a U-turn. I told him that I was lost and was trying to find my way back.
The officers looked at each other and then one of them said that I was lucky that I hadn’t caused an accident and that I needed to be more careful in the future. I nodded and agreed.
Hinted me for 300 RM ‘coffee money’ which I rejected and asked them to fine me instead
They then said that I was going to be fined and repeated it many times, like as if they were hinting for something else.
They then pointed to my wallet and said they would let me off. I was taken aback and asked what they meant by pointing to my wallet and they told me that they needed to have a coffee break for their shift.
I asked what were they expecting and they said that their coffee cost about 300 Ringgit.
I had never been asked to bribe a police officer before and I was not sure what to do. I asked them if I could speak to their supervisor and they said that would not be possible.
Not wanting to give in to them, I told them to go ahead and fine me instead and I would rather pay their fine then feed their fat bellies.
They realised that I was not to be messed with and then after some discussion between the both of them, they told me that I could go and they would let me off this time.