I believe that flitting from country to country lends fresh perspective to one's views. Not only does travel broaden the mind (well, some minds), it allows one to see each place's good and bad points afresh. For some unknown reason, bureaucrats throughout the world have a special mindset, seemingly lacking in humour (it's as if they are trained to appear serious and literal at ALL times).
When we first moved to Parkview in Hong Kong, I was amazed by the number of signs in a tiny parking lot for the adjoining Country Park (I cannot remember the exact number now but the signs greatly outnumbered the available lots!). The Letters Ed must have had a sense of humour in those days and it appeared in the SCMP.
In Ponte Vedra, I wrote in to the Times Union to say how strict we were - in Singapore - about cellphones and driving. That too was sone years ago.
Sad to say, after the initial burst of enthusiasm by the Traffic Police, there seems to be little enforcement here. I see so many drive without hands-free sets. And I must be one of the few who uses a seatbelt while a passenger in the back seat. No cops, no follow law, lah.
A few months ago, I got rather upset that my dear 81-year old husband was nabbed for trying to beat a red light on his way home from the golf club. If anything he drives too slowly for my liking! My motoring enthusiast friends agree with me that he drove too carefully and slowly - and they still laugh about it today.
But as the public get short shrift most of the time, my questions and latest suggestion have received official indifference, as you can see:
From: wongholloway gmail
Date: June 8, 2010 10:04:33 PM GMT+08:00
To: feedback@lta.gov.sg, SPF Feedback TP
Cc: reach@reach.gov.sg, stonline@sph.com.sg, psd_ps21@psd.gov.sg, Ian De Cotta , indranee.rajah@drewnapier.com, kootk@mindef.gov.sg, Kuan Yew Lee , ykbaey@gmail.com, sam_tan@mti.gov.sg, lty1@mica.gov.sg, Conrad Maria Jayaraj , stforum@sph.com.sg
Subject: Consideration for MAJORITY of road users
I read recently that senior citizens are able to extend the green man time for up to 5 seconds at selected pedestrian crossings. It is indeed laudable that our government is showing consideration for seniors.
But this consideration appears to be limited to pedestrians.
Just as recently as Tues, June 1 (around 10:00a) the car in which I was a passenger was overtaken at great speed going down Paterson Hill Road towards Irwell Bank Road. A white Subaru (complete with loud exhaust and tail wing) weaved in and out of traffic and consequently almost pushed some of the cars off the road, ours included.
The lights changed to amber just as the Subaru driver crossed the white line, but he made it safely through the junction without triggering any red light cameras or hitting anyone.
Therefore 3 seconds at such a big junction is more than sufficient for speedsters, whereas 3 seconds is insufficient for my 81 year old husband to cross the smaller junction at Adams/Sime roads.
There would seem to be a good case for the LTA and TP to review the situation and be fair to all road users by increasing the time of the amber light at junctions to those normally in use in the USA and UK; and to examine the possibility of allowing the length of the amber signal to be adjusted for the distance to be covered at different sized junctions.
This would be consideration for the majority of road users - who keep within the speed limits. Catching those who speed and almost run us off roads is entirely another matter.
Thank you.
Anne Wong Holloway
Senior citizens can extend green man time by up to five seconds using concession cards |
We thank Mr Ong Chin Kai for his suggestion on how to make it safer for senior citizens to cross the roads ("Have two timing buttons: One with a long interval to give senior citizens more time", The Straits Times, 10 Oct 2009). The Land Transport Authority (LTA) launched the Green Man Plus at five locations on 1 October. Under this initiative, senior citizens are able to extend the green man time by up to five seconds using their CEPAS-compliant senior citizen concession cards. To activate this, a senior citizen will only need to tap his or her senior citizen concession card on the card readers which are mounted just above the standard push button on the traffic light poles. They do not need to press the push button prior to tapping the card. The five locations to kickstart this initiative have been selected based on their proximity to healthcare facilities and transport nodes, and also minimal impact to vehicular traffic. LTA will monitor the usage at these locations and continue to identify other suitable pedestrian crossings to extend the scheme. We thank Mr Ong for his suggestion. HELEN LIM
DEPUTY DIRECTOR, MEDIA RELATIONS
LAND TRANSPORT AUTHORITY |
Our Ref: LTA/CC/PCF/FB/F20.000.000/20229/JM Date : 30-Apr-2010 Tel : 6396 1601 Fax : 6396 1192 Dear Ms Holloway WHAT IS THE TIMING ON OUR TRAFFIC LIGHTS? FEEDBACK NUMBER: 20100416-0943 We refer to your email of 16 April 2010. We would like to share with you that the timing of the amber light for all traffic lights is at three seconds. This does not vary based on the distance of the junctions. We hope we have clarified your queries and thank you for writing in. Yours sincerely (SIGNED IN LOTUS NOTES) Rebecca Tan Executive Project Communications & Feedback *We invite you to share your views on land transport Now, you can also send us your feedback via SMS at "77LTA" (77582). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Bcc : Sent On : [04/16/2010 03:36:18 PM ZE8] Subject : Re: (SR#: SR/2010/0412/1-DC3LM) - Activity # - 1-DC50L:CRB 2090/2010 - Re: What is the timing on - our traffic lights? Body : Dear Mr Low Amazing answer considering you are answerable to the public; the very people whose taxes pay your salary. This is not a matter of national security; so much for transparency in government. Perhaps the Traffic Police and LTA should be less inflexibile in your procedures and learn to communicate better with the people you serve. In this regard, I trust it is not a state secret and not against your procedures to let me know who has the authority to decide whether to make this information public. Anne Holloway On Apr 16, 2010, at 2:40 PM, Ian LOW wrote: Dear Mdm I refer to your preceding email. With regard to the timing on the traffic lights, as it comes under the purview of the Land Transport Authority (LTA), we have extended a copy of your email to them for their attention and reply to you. As for the timing of the red light cameras, it is currently not in our procedure to disclose it to members of public. Thank you for writing in and have a good weekend. Regards, Ian Low | Head SQ | Traffic Police | DID: 65476361 WARNING - "Privileged/Confidential information may be contained in this message. If you are not the intended addressee, you must not copy, distribute or take any action in reliance thereon. Communication of any information in this email to any unauthorised person is an offence under the Official Secrets Act (Cap 213). Please notify the sender immediately if you received this in error." cc 12 Apr, 2010 SPF Customer Relations 01:41 PM Branch/SPF/SINGOV@SINGOV Subject What is the timing on our traffic lights? I came across two interesting pieces on the web recently. The first was about police in the USA shortening the interval between the green and red lights (i.e the amber light) to boost revenue, and lately one about a math tutor timing the lights and comparing them to his county's guidelines. As I just cannot understand how my dear 81-year old husband could have been caught by a red lght camera (attracting a fine of $200 and 13 demerit points) when he drives carefully and slowly - I think maybe too slowly (which is why I think he was caught by the red light camera. If he were a young man in a Ferrari he'd have cleared the junction easily by steeping on the accelerator). However I am no match wizard and you probably have clear guidelines taking into account the distance across the junction, the speed limit, the point in the junction or in relation to the junction at which the presence of a vehicle would trigger the shutter mechanism of the "red light camera", and the relationship of this shutter mechanism to the traffic light itself. I have asked my friends, some of whom are keen motorists, and people in the motor trade and no one seems to know the definitive answers to 2 simple questions: (1) for how long is an amber light illuminated in Singapore? (2) does this vary on the distance in the "box" formed by the junction? I look forward hearing from you with information on the guidelines used in setting the timing on the traffic lights - and shutters on the "red light cameras". Yours sincerely, Anne Holloway |
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