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
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
Last edited on 13 October 2017
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