Friday 13 October 2017

Reader Response Final Draft


In the article "Floor lights help ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road", Tan (2017) reported that the newly installed LED strips at crossing junctions could help smartphone addicts stay alert on the road. It described that the LED strips, visible in the day, flash the prominent red and green of a traffic light. The article stated that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) implemented this half year-pilot program at two of the popular vicinities in Singapore due to its heavy human traffics. The program would allow the authority to evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of the LED strips before implementing them on other crossings. In the article, statistics from Traffic Police showed a rise in pedestrian-related accidents, where a substantial amount is comprised of the elderly. While the LED strips enhance road safety awareness for 'smartphone zombies', they do not help minimize the rise in pedestrian-related accidents amongst the elderly.

To understand the reasons behind the rise in pedestrian-related accidents, there is a need to examine the traffic report in Singapore. In 2016, the Singapore Police Force reported in the "Annual Road Traffic Situation 2016" news release, a decrease in pedestrian-related deaths between 2015 and 2016. However, there has been a 19.6 percent increase in pedestrian-related deaths amongst the elderly population. In which, 16 out of 28 elderly deaths are attributed to jaywalking. In the span of a year, accidents involving elderly who jaywalk have climbed from 57 to 81 cases. Although the news release highlighted the elderly as the primary reason for such rise, it does not mention smartphone addicts. Therefore, efforts should be directed towards the persistent rise in jaywalkers rather than placing 'smartphone zombies' in the spotlight.
 
Although LED strips provide pedestrians with an additional signal to cross the road, they do not deter the elderly from jaywalking. In the article “Elderly man killed by bus outside interchange” Lee (2017) reported that an elderly man was knocked down by a bus outside the traffic crossing at Toa Payoh bus depot. It was believed that the elderly man ignored traffic light signals while crossing the road. Interviews conducted at the bus depot revealed that the inconvenience of having to cross two junctions before reaching the train station encouraged pedestrians to jaywalk to save time. In another Straits Times article, “Jaywalking accidents up by 21% in the first half of year, 30% involving elderly pedestrians”, Seow (2017) interviewed Mr Sim, a 67-year-old dishwasher about why he chose to jaywalk and risk his safety when there was a crossing nearby. Mr Sim replied it was “more convenient” to jaywalk. Therefore, instead of implementing LED stripes to improve pedestrians’ road safety awareness, the focus should shift to promoting personal responsibility for one’s safety to reduce the numbers of pedestrian-related accidents. 
 
While the implementation of LED stripes acts as a measure to enhancing road safety awareness for ‘smartphone zombies’, it does not solve the rise in pedestrian-related accidents amongst the elderly. Instead, the LTA should come up with solutions to prevent the public from jaywalking, which would reduce pedestrian-related accidents. 
 
References
Lee, M K (2017). Elderly man killed by bus outside interchange. The Straits Times. Retrieved, October 9, 2017, from

Seow, B Y (2017). Jaywalking accidents up 21% in first half of year, 30% involving elderly pedestrians. The Straits Times. Retrieved, October 13, 2017 from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jaywalking-accidents-up-21-in-first-half-of-year-30-involving-elderly-pedestrians
 
Singapore Police Force (2016). Annual Road Traffic Situation 2016. Retrieved, September 26, 2017, from

Tan, C (2017). Floor lights help 'smartphone zombies' keep eye on the road. The Straits Times. Retrieved, September 20, 2016, from

Last edited on 13 October 2017

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Monday 9 October 2017

Reader Response Draft 4

In the article "Floor lights help ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road", Tan (2017) reported that the newly installed LED strips at crossing junctions could help smartphone addicts stay alert on the road. It described that the LED strips which could be seen in the day, flashes the prominent red and green of a traffic light. The article stated that Land Transport Authority (LTA) has implemented this half year-pilot program at two of the popular vicinities in Singapore due to its heavy human traffics. The program would allow the authority to evaluate the suitability and effectiveness of the LED strips before implementing them on other crossings. In the article, statistics from Traffic Police have shown a rise in pedestrian-related accidents, where a substantial amount is comprised of the elderly. While the LED strips enhance road safety awareness for 'smartphone zombies', they do not deal with the elderly group that causes the rise in pedestrian-related accidents.  

Firstly, there is a need to examine the traffic report in Singapore to understand the reasons behind rises in pedestrian-related accidents. Singapore Police Force (2016) reports in the "Annual Road Traffic Situation 2016" news release, a decrease in pedestrian-related deaths between 2015 and 2016. However, there has been a 19.6 percent increase in pedestrian-related deaths amongst the elderly population. In which, 16 out of 28 elderly deaths are attributed to jaywalking. In the span of a year, accidents involving elderly who jaywalk have climbed from 57 to 81 cases. Although the news release highlighted the elderly as the primary cause for such rise, it does not mention smartphone addicts. Therefore, efforts should be placed to deal with the persistent rise in jaywalkers rather than placing 'smartphone zombies' in the spotlight.

Although LED strips provide pedestrians with an additional signal to cross the road, they do not deter the elderly from jaywalking. In the article “Elderly man killed by bus outside interchange” Lee (2017) reports that an elderly man was run over by a bus outside the traffic crossing at Toa Payoh bus depot. It was believed that the elderly man ignored traffic light signals while crossing the road. Lee (2017) adds that a number of pedestrians at the bus depot have confessed to jaywalking in order to reach their destination quicker. Interviews conducted at the bus depot revealed that the pedestrians jaywalk to save time. Interviewees complained that the inconvenience of having to cross two junctions before reaching the train station encouraged them to jaywalk. In another Straits Times article, ‘Jaywalking accidents up by 21% in the first half of year, 30% involving elderly pedestrians’, Seow (2017) interviewed Mr Sim, a 67-year-old dishwasher about why he chose to jaywalk. Mr Sim states that his legs hurt when climbing the stairs and it was “more convenient” to jaywalk. Therefore, instead of implementing LED stripes to improve pedestrians’ road safety awareness, the focus should shift to promoting personal responsibility for one’s safety to reduce the numbers of traffic accidents.

The implementation of LED stripes acts as a measure to enhancing road safety awareness for ‘smartphone zombies’. However, LED stripes do not solve the rise in pedestrian-related accidents amongst the elderly as it does not deter them from jaywalking. Instead, the LTA should come up with solutions to prevent the public from jaywalking, which would reduce pedestrian-related accidents.

References

Lee, M K (2017). Elderly man killed by bus outside interchange. The Straits Times. Retrieved, October 9, 2017, from

Seow, B Y (2017). Jaywalking accidents up 21% in first half of year, 30% involving elderly pedestrians. The Straits Times. Retrieved, October 13, 2017 from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/jaywalking-accidents-up-21-in-first-half-of-year-30-involving-elderly-pedestrians

Singapore Police Force (2016). Annual Road Traffic Situation 2016. Retrieved, September 26, 2017, from

Tan, C (2017). Floor lights help 'smartphone zombies' keep eye on the road. The Straits Times. Retrieved, September 20, 2016, from


Last edited on 13 October 2017
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Wednesday 4 October 2017

Reader Response Draft 3

In the article “Floor lights help ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road”, Tan (2017) reports that the newly installed LED strips at crossing junctions can help smartphone addicts stay alert on the road. The LED strips which can be seen in the day, flashes the prominent red and green of a traffic light. Land Transport Authority (LTA) has implemented this half year-pilot program at two of the popular vicinities in Singapore due to its heavy human traffics. The program will allow the authority to evaluate the suitability and effectivity of the LED strips before they implement them on other crossings. Statistics from Traffic Police (TP) have shown a rise in pedestrian-related accidents, where a substantial amount is made up by the elderly. While the LED strips enhance awareness of road safety for 'smartphone zombies', they do not deal with the group that causes the rise in pedestrian-related accidents. 

 First of all, to understand which group is the cause of such pedestrian-related accidents, we need to examine the traffic report in Singapore. Based on the report "Annual Road Traffic Situation 2016" Singapore Police Force (2016), statistics have shown that there is a decrease in pedestrian-related deaths between 2015 and 2016. However, pedestrian-related deaths in the elderly population have shot up by 19.6 percent. In which, 16 out of 28 deaths are caused by jaywalking. Between 2015 and 2016, accidents involving elderly who jaywalk continue to climb from 57 to 81 instances. While no information can be found in the report regarding smartphone addicts, the concern in the elderly group remains high. From this, we have learned that jaywalking plays a huge role in pedestrian-related deaths in the elderly. While the LED strips provide an additional signal when it is time to cross, they do not deter road users from jaywalking. 

 Secondly, to further understand the problem, we need to identify the reasons behind why elderly jaywalk. In the post "Why do the Elderly Jaywalk?", Chew (2016) suggests that it may be that many of the elderly have walking difficulties. They rather jeopardise their safety than to walk to the nearest crossing junction as it can be agonising for them. Chew (2016) further commented that many of the elderly visit the marketplace to buy groceries and it is not unusual to see them jaywalking with heavy bags of grocery. All these reasonings have promoted the elderly to jaywalk instead.

 Last but not least, we recognise that actions are needed to overcome this issue particularly when the population in Singapore is ageing. Based on the article by Loh (2017), a Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police (SAC) states that with the ageing population in Singapore, this has become an area of concern. Since last year November, TP has been collaborating with "Senior Activities Centre and Senior Citizen Corners" to teach the elderly how to stay safe when using the road. More information can be found in the article "Fatal accidents in 2016 down, but more elderly killed" (2017). Chew (2016) also recommended the use of 'mobility scooters' to aid elderly who have walking difficulties. This will actually encourage them to not jaywalk as 'mobility scooters' are mostly limited to flat roads.

 Although the LED strips enhance awareness of road safety for 'smartphone zombies', they are not especially useful when it comes to dealing with the rise in pedestrian-related accidents. From the traffic report in 2016, we learned that pedestrian-related accidents in the elderly remained as the area of concern. Hence, more efforts and funds should be placed on the jaywalking problem instead.

 References

 Chew, W (2016). Why do the Elderly Jaywalk? Falcon Mobility. Retrieved, September 26, 2017, from
https://www.falconmobility.com.sg/blogs/blog/why-do-the-elderly-jaywalk

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

 Singapore Police Force (2016). Annual Road Traffic Situation 2016. Retrieved, September 26, 2017, from
http://www.police.gov.sg/~/media/spf/files/statistics/20170215_stats_road_traffic_situation_2016.pdf

 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

 Last edited on 5 October 2017
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Monday 2 October 2017

Reader Response Draft 2

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 resembles 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.   

With the reports from Traffic Police indicates a rise in pedestrian injuries, such initiative makes 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 are indeed caused by the usage of mobile phones as a considerable amount is said to be made up by the elderly in the article. 

As I read the article, I can vividly recall as a teenager, I used to glue my eyes onto my smartphone wherever I go. When I begin to grow older, I stop doing so as I learn to understand the selfishness involve when I put myself and other road users at risk. 

However, it seems to be unavoidable that human tends to be selfish creatures. While I begin to recall my mornings at the bus stop to school, it is not uncommon to spot jaywalkers. As a matter of fact, I realise that the jaywalkers are typically the elderly. Just recently, I witnessed an elderly jaywalking at a slow and steady pace. The next second, a car heading towards him right after a bend has to slow down to make way for him. I felt that the old man has not only put himself at risk but to other road users as well. Therefore, this brings me to the point next whereby it is questionable that "smartphone zombies" are responsible for the surge in traffic accidents.

Based on the news article "Fatal accidents in 2016 down, but more elderly killed" Loh (2017), reported that there is a drop in traffic deaths in 2016 compared to 2015. In contrast, traffic deaths involve elderly have shot up by 19.6 percent. In which, 16 out of 28 of deaths are caused by jaywalking. While Loh (2017) states the accidents involving elderly jaywalking continue to climb from 57 to 81 instances in 2016, Tan (2017), on the other article, failed to mention the surge in traffic accidents are indeed caused by "smartphone zombies". 

Martha (2017) mentioned that even though there is a decrease in road deaths, a slight increase in road injuries is seen in the release by Singapore Police Force (2016). Nevertheless, elderly pedestrians remain a primary concern due to the rise in deaths and injuries involving them. To stress the importance of the concern, SPF has come up with an initiative called the "Road Master Test Kit" started November last year. More information can be seen in the news article, "Traffic-related deaths dropped marginally in 2016; elderly pedestrians remain a concern." (2017)

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. Tan (2016) failed to come out with adequate evidence to show that indeed "smartphone zombies" is a rising issue in Singapore and explain the strong need for the LED strips. 


References

Loh, R (2017). Fatal accidents in 2016 down, but more elderly killed. The New Paper. Retrieved, September 26, 2017, from

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

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

Singapore Police Force (2016). Annual Road Traffic Situation 2016. Retrieved, September 26, 2017, from

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

 Edited on 2 October 2017
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