No place for wandering cattle

What say you on the issue below?

COW! Mummy, cow!” the five-year-old boy exclaimed excitedly while pointing out at a herd of cattle nibbling on grass along Jalan Gopeng in Kampar.

After giving her son a lesson on the difference between cows and buffaloes, my Singaporean friend was visibly troubled by the roaming cattle.

“Kampar is now a high traffic area. It is too dangerous for these animals to roam like this,” my friend said in a serious tone.

Many view the presence of wandering cattle and even goats as a threat to road safety.

Their worries are not unfounded. Their fears have been intensified after the recent death of a technician.

Cows crossing!: A motorcyclist slowing down for a calf to cross the road in Kampar new town.

Mohd Rizi Mohd Nasir had lost control of his motorcycle after ramming into a buffalo. He was flung onto the road and hit by an oncoming car in Jeram.

All this took place on the eve of his 25th birthday.

The cattle breeding business, which started decades ago, has been handed down from generation to generation in Kampar and I believe it is the same in other places.

This, when Kampar had not yet undergone its present rapid economic and physical expansion and cattle could graze on anywhere there were greens.

With cars replacing bicycles on the roads, cattle breeders and farmers now find themselves having less places to let their animals graze while it is too expensive to purchase grass as feed.

Realising this, the state government had recently announced that it was creating two new grazing fields, one in Banir Estate, Temoh near Tapah and another on the outskirts of Bidor, to ease the situation.

While the state is making an effort to overcome the lack of grazing fields, I feel as motorists, we should also be mindful of our responsibility on the road.

To a certain extent, I think some motorists and motorcyclists should be held accountable for traffic accidents involving stray cows and buffaloes.

Not only are those who perceive breaking the speed limit as a norm mostly the guilty ones when it comes to such accidents, these are the same people who often fail to react in an emergency situation.

I would recommend that each of us give some thought to others on the road, including these animals, while driving.

And until enough grazing fields are created, we should do our best to drive a little slower and be watchful on roads for stray cattle.

Drive responsibly. Give a thought to other living creatures.