KUANTAN: "I do not remember taking the wrong turn or driving against traffic. (I only realised something had happened when a) police patrol car ordered me to stop. I seem to be forgetful due to my age.
"I apologise for my action that had put other road users in danger," said 81-year-old Wan Abdul Rahman Wan Mohamed.
The senior citizen made headlines on Thursday when video footage of him driving a Proton Savvy against the flow of traffic along the dual-carriage East Coast Expressway near the Kuantan Toll Plaza went viral on social media.
The father-of-three, who was taking a short drive from Gambang to Sungai Lembing here, said he had just refuelled his car at a petrol station in Gambang at 4pm before exiting the Gambang Toll Plaza.
"I was heading back to the Kuantan exit and did not realise that I had taken the wrong turn. My poor memory resulted in me driving in the wrong lane. I am lucky nothing happened.
"Since it was raining, I was driving slowly, before I noticed a policeman instructing me to stop at the road side. They politely informed me that I had been driving on the wrong side of the stretch," he said when met on Sunday.
Wan Abdul Rahman said policemen took him to the district police station to record his statement and informed his son to fetch him home.
"Fearing that I might continue driving, my grandson took the Savvy to his house, and my children have advised me not to drive alone anymore.
"Previously, I used to drive even at night. But I never expected such a thing as this to happen to me. It must be the age factor," said the widower, who lives in Sungai Lembing.
Sipping a cup of tea at a roadside stall, Wan Abdul Rahman appeared a little surprised when told that a video of the incident had gone viral.
This prompted him to grab a copy of a Malay daily to read about the incident, which he did while nodding his head vigorously.
Wan Abdul Rahman’s wrong-way drive was recorded by a dashboard camera of a car which almost crashed into the oncoming vehicle.
Pahang Traffic Enforcement and Investigation Department chief Superintendent Mohd Noor Yusof Ali said highway authorities immediately alerted the police, which dispatched a patrol car to stop the elderly driver.
Mohd Noor said the case is being investigated under Section 42 (1) of the Road Transport Act 1987 for reckless and dangerous driving.