Tips for driving and overtaking on country roads

Being a city-slicker for nearly all my driving life, how do I tackle country roads?

Country roads broadly refer to two-lane tarmacs that tend to run through forests, farmland and plantations, linking villages to towns. Malaysia has plenty of these trunk roads, complemented by the four-lane highways.

On road trips, driving on trunk roads, also known as B-roads, is a different experience from the typically long and wide highways.

These roads are rarely straight for more than a couple of kilometres, and most of the curves are long and sweeping. However, you will also encounter routes where there are a series of sharp bends, especially over hilly terrain, which are found in the central parts of Malaysia.

Unless recently devastated by monsoon rains and floods, the roads are very well-surfaced with clear central divider markings and often with yellow lines along the edge or road shoulder.

Nonetheless, there are plenty of undulations and sometimes blind summits where you will be able to see only the top of the hill and nothing beyond the peak.

Driving on these roads is drastically different from what most are used to on expressways, dual-carriageways or city streets, where average speeds are significantly lower. Traffic is also much heavier on the trunk roads.

On B-roads, you will encounter slower moving vehicles like logging trucks or animals that you would need to pass. This may require moving across to use the lane where vehicles are travelling in the opposite direction.

Overtaking is perhaps the most hazardous move you may have to make and it requires plenty of discretion, a good judgment of speed and distance and, most of all, knowing your car’s acceleration and braking capability.

Two very dangerous zones where you should not try to overtake are sections with double-white lines in the median and where the road curves towards the right and vegetation shortens your visibility of oncoming traffic.

You should not follow a car in front that is in an overtake manoeuvre, unless you have a clear vision of the road ahead of oncoming traffic and see sufficient space in your lane to fall back in after the overtake.

Long-range vision is critical on these roads not just for overtaking, but also to see the curves and moderate your speed to one which you are confident your car can handle. Bear in mind that some roads can be bumpy and if your car is stiffly sprung, maintaining a clean line could be a handful.

Be extra cautious when it rains because when you hit a puddle at speed in a curve, no traction-control, stability management or four-wheel system can get you out of aquaplaning.