It is apparent that ignorance and selfishness is universal: young and old, men and women, people of all races, shapes and sizes.
As with many things here, form is, at least as important, if not more, than substance. As a "new" driver you spend time waiting for your Basic then Advanced Theory tests. In between (provided that you have passed your Basic theory) test you then get in a queue for a series of driving lessons.
Then you sit for your Advanced Theory and Driving tests. This system is formulaic and has given rise to its own little niche - multi-language books and lessons that help one cram for the theory tests and driver teaching schools.
After one passes all the tests and is issued a licence, one must display - for one year - a fluorescent triangle on a plain background at the front and rear of one's vehicle to denote a new driver. But I have yet to see these signs inhibit whoever is behind the wheel!
Never mind the sales of these signs, the government could improve road safety and manners by being strict with young or inexperienced drivers (anyone who has been issued a licence for less than 3 years, including an 'exchange' licence from another country).
This should translate into giving them higher demerit points for traffic offences.
And why ever not? Insurance companies know that drivers under 26 years of age or inexperienced drivers are involved in more accidents than others, hence they bear higher premiums and excess.
In the absence of visible enforcement efforts (which writers to the newspapers also have complained about) we obviously need other means to ensure law and order on our roads.
Now that our Land Transport Authority (LTA) has been given the task of enforcement in cases of illegal parking, their 'flying' squads (blue uniforms with 'Enforcement' on the back) patrol various areas.
However they cannot be in all places at all times. And touring traffic and parking 'hotspots' on their motorcycles needs to be planned so that they can be at these 'hotspots' when traffic is at their worst.
They should also ticket government vehicles that break the laws by waiting or parking in no waiting or parking areas. There should not be one law for the everyday man and woman and a different one for popularly elected officials.
Here we have a car, with its "new" driver sign (top right or rear screen) at the Tiong Bahru car park at 9:38am on 28th Dec 2010 - in a parking space designated for vehicles that are loading and unloading.
I was leaving the car park when I saw a couple park the car and proceed to the lift, at a time when many people visit the Food Centre at the market for breakfast.
While I appreciate that our Police force is busy keeping terrorists from within and without from blowing us up, lack of uniformed policemen and women has a detrimental effect on road users who park as they please.
This is another common sight, sometimes driverless sometimes with someone in the driving seat.
Taken at 12:54pm on 29 December 2010 when it was blocking access to our driveway and adding to the traffic jam along Claymore Road and Claymore Hill because vehicle had to form a single line to get by!
As those who live in the UK and USA can see, the meaning of some of these road markings are different to those captioned in the above.
But whichever way one interprets stopping, waiting and parking in Singapore, it is a terrible waste of taxpayers money to erect signs and paint our roads because few drivers pay any attention to them.
And unfortunately the parking wardens and enforcement officers are stretched too thin to be around when offences are committed.
Our government is preparing for what has been termed the "silver tsunami" when the demographic bulge will consist of baby boomers like me.
Much has been mooted for staying relevant and working past 60 and I would suggest they recruit people with clean driving records to patrol their neighbourhoods and take photographs so that illegal parking and other traffic offenses can be ticketed.
Many people are sick and tried of not being able to access or exit their homes safely because vehicles obscure their view. Or even worse, block their driveways. They'd be more than happy to perform their civic duty!
Besides, local residents KNOW when traffic will be bad, unlike planners in air-conditioned offices.
Recently, I discovered how irrelevant the Automobile Association of Singapore is to my car and to me. I rejoined when we returned and bought our car and have scarcely had to use any of its members benefits.
But when I was trying to make sense about the timing of the amber lights at so-called "red light" junctions, I copied their President who never even acknowledged my email.
My point then - and remains - that the size of the junctions (hence the distance the vehicle must travel) should dictate the timing for the amber lights. But the Traffic Police and LTA are adamant it should stay at a flat 3 seconds for ALL junctions.
Extract from Wikipedia:
Light timing length
The length of amber lights can differ, for example in many places the length of an amber light is usually 5 seconds, but elsewhere it may be as little as 3 seconds considerably reducing the time for reaction. It is typical for these times to vary according to the set speed limit, with longer times for higher limits. In the state of Georgia, United States, an amber light must be lit one second for every 10 mph of posted speed limit. In this situation, a 45 mph posted speed limit would have a 4.5 second amber light. For intersections with red light cameras, 1 extra second must be added. In Colorado Springs, Colorado, green lights at numerous intersections have been noted with durations of approximately two seconds. (Wikipedia does NOT give the size of any junctions)
The time from when a red light is displayed and when a cross street is given a green light is usually based on the physical size of the intersection. This intervening period is called the all-red time. A typical all-red time is 3 seconds to allow cars to clear the intersection. In a wider intersection, such as 4 lane road or highway intersection, the all-red time may be as much as 5 seconds, allowing drivers who could not or would not stop at the amber light enough time to clear the intersection without causing a collision.
Anyone with a little commonsense can see that as the population gets older, Singapore's Traffic Police and Land Transport boffins should allow for slower reactions.
After all it costs 12 points (out of the 24 allowed for a period of 2 years) to be caught beating the lights as my soon to be 82 year old husband found out to his cost.
(A young man in a Ferrari can beat the lights easily unless intoxicated and unwary, 3 seconds is plenty of time in such a car)
The corollary to this is that I had to copy my request for the timing to my Members of Parliament before it would be released to me - as if it were a matter of national security.
It just shows how we are too fixated on the macro details and miss the bigger picture. Or is it just the bureaucratic mindset?
More recently, my attention was drawn to car insurance by a girlfriend who had noticed, when reading the fine print, that her insurer imposed a high excess ($3000) for claims incurred by young and inexperienced drivers AND drivers 65 and over.
As she is going to be 65 in a few years she thought it most unfair that experienced drivers like her were being unfairly penalised when most accidents are caused by young and experienced drivers.
She delegated the task of looking at car insurance to me and while I was looking through my own papers I discovered that, through AAS my car was insured by the same company and the same excess clause applied!
So I did a bit of looking around, especially as car (or motor) insurance can now be purchased online.
Eventually I purchased my policy from Aviva because I could tailor my requirements and see the quotation change on the web page, in real time - instead of waiting a few days until someone responded.
Aviva was also the policy that offered the best value. And even though I tacked on one or two supplementary options, I still saved about $200 on my car insurance.
So much for the AAS being for motorists! My membership is up in April and you can bet that I am not going to renew it.
Maybe Singapore should have questions like these in the Theory parts of the Driving Test:
http://www.chinacartimes.com/quiz/
Chinese Driving Test |
| So you've heard all of the jokes about Asian drivers, you think Chinese are bad drivers? You think you're a good driver? Why not try the official English theory exam for foreigners who want to obtain their Chinese driving license - mandatory if you wish to drive in China. The test is surprisingly hard. The exam questions are translated into English from the Chinese language exam, the translation is not 100% exact (we didn't translate them!). Chinese people who are studying for the theory test have a book containing 1000 questions and answers - only 100 of these questions will be in the exam. It is somewhat easier for foreigners to obtain their Chinese license in China - they only have to learn a 100 questions, which are the exam questions. Remember, to get your Chinese license you need obtain more than 90% on the exam. Can you do it? NOTE: in China they drive on the RIGHT (same side as Europe and the USA) Here are two samples of their test questions and multiple choice answers:   |
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