A traffic police officer was injured after being hit by a car that made an illegal right turn while he was directing traffic under the morning sun in Bayan Baru, Penang.
The incident, captured on a dashcam video and shared by Penang Kini on Facebook, has sparked public concern and criticism online.
Unauthorized right turn
The incident reportedly occurred around 8:13 AM on Tuesday (June 24). At the time, the traffic lights at the junction were red, but vehicles were allowed to proceed based on the officer’s manual signals.
One driver, however, made an unauthorised right turn from a lane meant for going straight.
The dashcam footage shows the vehicle suddenly veering right before crashing into the officer standing in the middle of the road, allegedly because the driver was momentarily blinded by the strong sunlight and could not see the officer clearly.
Driver stopped, others rushed to help
Right after the collision, the driver stopped the car and got out to check on the injured officer.
A passing motorcyclist also pulled over to help, supporting the officer to the side of the road.
The final part of the video shows the officer receiving treatment in a hospital, with bandages wrapped around both knees and the back of his hand, indicating that he suffered non-trivial injuries.
Public reactions
The incident quickly gained attention online, with many netizens criticising the driver’s actions.
“That lane was supposed to go straight, so why turn right? Glaring sunlight, couldn’t see? But the foot still pressed the accelerator… should’ve braked since you couldn’t see.”
“Already in the wrong lane… then suddenly turned right… and ended up hitting the cop.”
“The sunlight was glaring, and the car pillar is big… it really was a blind spot.”
