Most of my grouses arise from the direction our motor vehicle policies are taking us and the consequences, intended or otherwise, of the government's implementation of the policies.
Until recently illegal parking was under the purview of the Traffic Police. Now the LTA has taken over and they have a 'flying' enforcement unit.
However it still leaves us without adequate enforcement on the roads - especially as our motorcycle Traffic Police seem to be deployed on escort duty. If our VIPS insist on perks such as escorts, why can't these cops also manage and direct traffic and patrol nearby areas while their VIPs are engaged in meetings or having their medical check ups?
Instead of lounging around and chatting they could be nabbing errant road users.
Traffic Police and in fact all Police vehicles should obey the law unless in hot pursuit of criminals or terrorists. Otherwise they should set good examples for others to follow.
For example, I saw a small convoy of government vehicles parked alongside road traffic barriers outside ION and surmised that some VIPs were on a shopping errand. Not long after, I drive by the other side of ION and remembered they have a good-size driveway.
Surely this convoy could have stopped at ION's vehicular entrance and the VIP's could have been ushered directly into ION's air-conditioned environment right away - without negotiating the wide expanse of pavement at the front of the building?
I would have thought that this sort of 'show' - which may be expected in lesser developed countries and third world dictatorships - was in the past in an educated, well brought up country such as ours. But maybe I have spent too many years away.
We could certainly do with more LTA enforcement unit visits to 'hot spots' for illegal parking. By showing a presence and ticketing offenders, they can remind other drivers and motorcyclists that all the signs, lines and laws are not there merely so that we can say we have them.
As it is, too many road users (including cyclists) blatantly ignore the rules.
Many others have written in to the newspapers to complain, but judging by the same complaints surfacing from time to time, not much has been done by the authorities. Except to state that we have laws, signs, lines, islands and such in place. Such a waste of taxpayers money and so much for educating road users and/or penalising those who are not compliant.
I could swear that learner drivers and riders memorise the Highway Code or whatever it is called here only in order to pass their tests. After that, the information is wiped from their minds.
For sure, have not been taught to understand the rules and regulations. If I had my way, I would
modify the Basic and Advanced Theory tests and improving the Highway Code - first by removing all the ambiguities that exist in the wording of the Highway Code especially when it comes to stopping, waiting and parking (at what point does stopping turn into waiting?). Presumably parking means leaving one's vehicle unattended - why not say so?
Recently someone responded to letter in the Straits Times saying that he had telephoned the Traffic Police and been told that tail gating is NOT against the law.
That may well be, but according to a web page from LTA's website:
Careless Driving costs 6 demerit points, Driving without due care or reasonable consideration for other road users costs 9 demerit points, and Reckless or dangerous driving earns the offender 24 demerit points.
If tail gating is not dangerous, I don't know what is.
I am confident that if the TP venture out on their motorbikes they could find many drivers who fully deserve 9 points.
And any driver found guilty of causing a rear-end accident should immediately win himself 24 points.
Word would get around (with the help of radio, TV and the mainstream newspapers) and we would have less accidents as a result of tail gating.
Since motor insurance policies reflect the propensity of young (under 26) or inexperienced (2 years) drivers to become involved in accidents, their demerit points should be doubled if they commit offences in their first two years on the road.
The information should still be fresh in these young, bright minds and higher penalties might provide the incentive to keep them in mind.
Ignorance of the law is not accepted as an excuse, so why does our government make it difficult for us to obtain details of the road traffic act? Important parts of it should be posted on the LTA website instead of it being hidden like a state secret?
I did find some laws on a website, and they concern bicycles. See how many you can spot that the bicycles and riders on our roads comply with on a regular basis.
My guess is that few of the laws from 5 onwards are obeyed. And that if stopped, the rider wouldn't know there was a law against what he or she is doing!
But never mind Santa Claus, I wonder when the Land Transport Authority and Traffic Police will make supreme efforts to bring courtesy, consideration, law and sanity back to our roads.
Hope springs eternal!
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