Before you think that this photograph is taken at India or Malaysia, it is not. It's taken on my way home from Saturday morning breakfast at PIE, Jalan Eunos exit.

The 4 sides of the lorry were surrounded by wooden planks to increase its storage capacity, and the planks were bounded together merely by a green rope as shown in the photo. I could not phantom the consequences if the rope decide to give way one day. The wooden planks would probably crush some windscreens of the unlucky cars which happen to be at the sides of the lorry. However, the result could be much worse if the planks were to fall on a motorcyclist and I believe serious injuries would be assured. Even if the planks do not fall off, there are large openings between two perpendicular planks whereby a piece of cargo could fall off easily. For instance, the orange tin can on the top right corner of lorry could be a potential piece of flying object. For myself, I try to keep a distance from the lorry and overtook it in double quick time to avoid being a casualty.

The driver is an elderly man. Come to think of it, it was quite an ingenious idea which reminds me of the case in Frankel Ave whereby the owner of a terrace house decides to create more space by building his house taller than the rest. Coming back to the topic, I am wondering if the traffic police has some regulations laid down with regards to the carriage of goods. Artificial storage space should not be created to accomodate more cargo than what the vehicle is designed for, as this may pose a hazard to other road users.

I hold that the elderly man will reconsider such practice going forward and make the public road safer for all of us.