CNA: How to reverse course on bad driving?

[Darthrevan]

Should Singapore do away with traffic lights and signs, in a bid to rid the roads of virulent bad driving?

 

Counter-intuitive as it sounds, such a move has borne results. In the Dutch town of Drachten, removing street rules and directives resurrected road users' "ability to be considerate", reported the late traffic guru Hans Monderman, co-founder of the "naked streets" initiative.

 

In recent months, concerns about unsafe driving habits here have been in the spotlight, following the two Rochor Road junction crashes and a string of cyclist deaths. Just this week, Law and Foreign Minister K Shanmugam's Facebook post on his own close brushes broached the question: Have our driving habits become worse?

 

More fundamentally, why?

 

IS IT CONGESTION?

 

One could blame road congestion for fuelling the impatience manifested in annoying traits such as tailgating, cavalier honking and lane-weaving. Or it may be that there is "too much construction with confusing diversions", as one respondent to our poll said.

 

But there are other cities with worse traffic snarls, like New York, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh, yet seldom does one witness the aggressive "retaliation" seen here.

 

Private driving instructor KC, who frequently travels to Jakarta (another city with perpetual jams), said drivers there are a lot more "civilised" even though traffic conditions are much worse. "As long as they can brake in time and there's no accident, it's okay. They don't speed up and show you the middle finger just because you (honk) or move into their lane," he said.

 

ME FIRST

 

Rather, many drivers interviewed by TODAY feel the problem is a self-centred attitude behind the wheel.

 

Full-time national serviceman Josh Lim, who holds a driving licence and cycles on roads, said there is a sense of "what's mine is mine", hence the reluctance to give way. "It's about 'I want to get home first' or 'get off the roads because you don't belong here'."

 

Another private driving instructor, who declined to be named, said he frequently encounters drivers who speed up when they see his students signalling to switch lanes. "Just a few seconds' difference, but cannot. Maybe they think it's 'lose face'."

 

Ms Joyce Phua, a private tutor, added that "sometimes it's easier if I don't signal".

 

Ironically, being sticklers for the letter of the law could be causing us to throw manners out the window.

"If you hit someone from behind, you are at fault straight away; doesn't matter what the driver in front did," Mr KC said, adding that there are no explicit laws against bad habits like not signalling.

 

Some agree it makes drivers almost "self-righteous", citing the example of road hogs who don't give way when they see that other cars want to overtake. "They think they don't need to give way just because they are not doing anything 'wrong'," said banker Andy Lim, 29.

 

The knock-on effect? A frustrated driver may retaliate.

 

Cabby Tan S H, 48, recalls one incident when the driver behind began flashing his headlights furiously from "at least 100 metres away". And just as Mr Tan was about to give way, the car swerved and passed him on the left, the driver gesturing menacingly.

 

He then cut back in front of Mr Tan's taxi and started "braking on and off until our speed was about 60kmh in the first lane", the cabby recalled. "I almost knocked into him a few times."

 

STICK OR MORE CARROTS?

 

Several of those who commented on Mr Shanmugam's Facebook post on Monday, like Adeline Wong, feel that "enforcement is seldom seen nowadays". Businessman Tay Seng Quan said this makes errant drivers bolder as there's a belief that "getting caught is a low risk".

 

"After some time, people 'monkey see monkey do', so you get more bad driving habits," said the 53-year-old.

 

TODAY asked the police about this perception of fewer traffic cops on the roads but they were unable to comment by press time. Singapore Road Safety Council Secretariat Senior Manager Mark Chow, however, pointed out that "traffic police can't be everywhere all the time".

 

Other than the calls to step up enforcement or make penalties stiffer, are there out-of-the-box solutions worth pondering over?

 

Recruitment specialist Jacee Liau suggests rewarding good behaviour instead. Although motorists currently enjoy rebates to their insurance premiums for every consecutive year they do not make claims (up to 50 per cent), this "reward" does not directly encourage good driving habits or gracious behaviour.

 

There could be "mystery" traffic cops going around year-round, spotting "model drivers" and rewarding them with "merit points", the 28-year-old suggests. When a driver accumulates a certain number of points, he gets a cash reward or a rebate on the road tax.

 

The difficulty to this idea, obviously, is the huge deployment of manpower resources.

 

MANDATORY REFRESHERS

 

Businessman Eng Yi Yuan, 29, suggested lowering speed limits on expressways during peak hours, citing how the speed cameras along the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway tunnels "work wonders". "When everyone is stuck at a lower speed, no one is in a position to get into accidents. There's no excessive acceleration, so no sudden braking."

 

Another oft-made call is for periodic refresher courses, as driving instructor KC noted: "Very often, you see that the serious accidents involve seasoned drivers, not new ones. So it's not a skill problem, but complacency."

 

Some still feel more emphasis should be placed on new drivers: Make it more difficult to get a licence, and have a yearly re-assessment by the traffic police for the first three years.

 

Mr Eng said drivers should be made to sit through a lecture before they can renew their road tax. "You show pictures of traffic accidents in the past year, analysis of how inconsiderate driving leads to accidents, and interviews with victims saying how their lives have been affected," he said. "You might not be able to influence everyone but it should improve things."

 

Other discourteous driving habits, such as road-hogging by slow-moving or heavy vehicles - often driven by foreigners - should be addressed. Some feel that those holding foreign licences should re-sit the driving test, rather than be allowed to convert their licence by passing a basic theory test.

 

USE VIDEO FOOTAGE

 

As more car-owners are installing mobile cameras in their vehicles, one view is that the authorities should consider a whistle-blowing channel. Making sure any driver can "weed out" bad hats would keep most on their toes.

 

Still, there are those like accountant Betty Lim who feel that "self-regulation" is the only way. "Until we become a country that appreciates tolerance, no amount of fine or demerit points will change the way we drive," she said.

 

Indeed, as the Drachten experiment - since replicated in several European cities, including Ejby, Denmark; Ipswich, England; and Ostende, Belgium - shows, "common-sense" driving, by way of friendly gestures, head nods and eye contact, could be most effective.

 

Unsafe could be safer, as Mr Monderman put it: "The many rules strip us of the most important ability - the ability to be considerate. The greater the number of prescriptions, the more people's sense of personal responsibility dwindles." While it would be unfeasible to roll out such an urban experiment island-wide, perhaps a pilot in a small neighbourhood could surprise us with its results.

 

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/sin...1222019/1/.html

[Deathism]

I really don't think that that will work here.

 

It'll only make things worse.

 

 

The only thing holding back a catastrophe are the road regulations.