Reader Response Draft 1

In the article “Floor lights help ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road” Tan (2017), states that to help smartphone addicts stay alert on the road, Land Transport Authority (LTA) has installed LED strips before the crossing junctions of two popular vicinities in Singapore. The LED that can be seen in the day will resemble the colour of conventional red and green man signals of a traffic light. However, this initiative is only a half-year pilot program and will allow the authority to evaluate its suitability in our climate. During this time, feedbacks from road users will be collected to measure the effectiveness of this project.   

With the reports from Traffic Police indicates a rise in a number of pedestrian injuries, such initiative will make road crossing a safer experience for all users. While the article managed to provide statistics on the surge in traffic accidents, it is unclear if these accidents are indeed caused by the usage of mobile phones as a considerable amount of the accidents are made up by the elderly. 

I can vividly recall, back when I was a teenager, I used to glue my eyes onto my smartphone wherever I go. Because of it, I was reprimanded by my father. I stopped doing so as I grow older and become less ignorant. There is only selfishness when you put other road users at risk and it is the time that I prove to my parents that I can take care of myself. 

However, it seems to be only natural that human tends to be selfish. Every morning at the bus stop to school, I stare at the traffic junction across me. As a matter of fact, it is not uncommon to spot jaywalkers. While I start to recall, I realise that the majority of them in my neighbourhood are always the elderly. While I wait for my bus patiently, another elderly is seen jaywalking at a slow and steady speed. The old man appears to me that he is skilful in the art of jaywalking like he has for the past many years. The next second, a car heading towards him has to slow down because of his selfish act. I felt that the old man has not only put himself at risk but to other road users as well. 

While I think it is a good initiative to set up LED lights for smartphone addicts, elderly pedestrians should instead be the focus on the rising problem highlighted in the annual road traffic situation (2016). Based on the report, the group remained a high concern while the number of accidents involving them continues to climb.

Looking at past year statistics, the death count of elderly road users in traffic misfortunes has increased by 19.6%. 30.2% of these misfortunes happened when they were jaywalking. The number of misfortunes that involves jaywalking by elderly road users have increased by a high 42.1%. All of this indicates an additional focus needed on our elder population. Like what Traffic commander Tee. S. mentioned, ‘it is a big concern because we are an ageing population.'

I would return to my personal experience and although 'smartphone zombies' are present around us, it is not necessary to be the cause that results in the rise in traffic misfortunes. 

Evidently, based on statistics, the rise in jaywalkers in the elderly population poses serious problems in our daily road usage. While LTA has come up with campaign and efforts to educate the specific population, it is a problem that requires some time to make improvements. 

References

Loh, R (2017). Fatal accidents in 2016 down, but more elderly killed. The New Paper. Retrieved, September 26, 2016, from
http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/fatal-accidents-2016-down-more-elderly-killed

Martha, S (2017). Traffic-related deaths dropped marginally in 2016; elderly pedestrians remain a concern. The Online Citizen. Retrieved, September 26, 2016, from

https://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2017/02/16/traffic-related-deaths-dropped-marginally-in-2016-elderly-pedestrian-accidents-remain-a-concern/

Ng, K (2017). 20% jump in number of accidents involving elderly pedestrians. Today Online. Retrieved, September 26, 2016, from

http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/twenty-percent-jump-number-accidents-involving-elderly-pedestrians

Tan, C (2017). Floor lights help 'smartphone zombies' keep eye on the road. The Straits Times. Retrieved, September 20, 2016, from
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/floor-lights-help-smartphone-zombies-keep-eye-on-the-road

Zaihan, M.Y (2017). Traffic death rate drops to lowest since 1981. The Straits Times. Retrieved, September 26, 2016, from
http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/traffic-death-rate-drops-to-lowest-since-1981

Edited 28 September 2017