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mobile phones again .... Six-year-old girl dies after near-drowning in pool with lifeguards, swimming instructor distracted The state coroner criticised two lifeguards and a swimming instructor after a six-year-old girl, who did not know how to float or swim independently without support, died following a near-drowning at Kallang Basin Swimming Complex. On Dec 20, 2017, little Sherlyn Ler was left to fend for herself for at least four minutes as she swam using a swimming board. Her instructor, Mr Yeo Chwee Chuan, had led her to the pool's mid-point during her 7pm lesson before allowing the girl to swim to the edge. But he then turned away to focus on his other students, aged six to eight years old. Of the two lifeguards near the teaching pool, one was busy on his mobile phone while the other spent time arranging chairs. In an inquiry into her death on Tuesday (April 2), State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam said: "The lifeguard should not be distracted by the use of his personal devices or idle chit-chat. "He should never leave his post unguarded. Drowning is known to occur quickly and quietly between 20 and 60 seconds." She also noted several lapses in Mr Yeo's management of his lesson, saying his class formation was "poor". "At several points in time, more than one student was out of his line of sight... Ideally, the child, especially one who is not an independent swimmer, should be within arm's reach," added the state coroner, who found Sherlyn's death a tragic misadventure. Although the girl's mother was seated on a nearby platform to keep an eye on her daughter, she too became distracted by her phone and when she turned to speak to other people. Moments after Mr Yeo turned his back, the 1.11m tall Sherlyn went under in a pool where the water's depth was between 0.8m and 1m. She died in hospital on Jan 9 last year from a lack of oxygen and blood flowing to the brain following the near-drowning. The Straits Times understands that Mr Yeo's coaching licence has been suspended by Sport SG and Mr Firdaus Rajatmarican and Mr Law Kum Wah, who left the pool unattended for at least four minutes, are no longer lifeguards. It emerged at the hearing that at 7.05pm, Mr Firdaus, who had been watching over the training pool, asked Mr Law to take over his duty as he needed to use the washroom. The state coroner said that closed-circuit television footage showed Mr Firdaus looking at his phone while Mr Law was arranging some chairs in the area. At about 7.15pm, two girls in the pool noticed Sherlyn floating face up and alerted Mr Law. Mr Law and Mr Yeo swam towards the girl and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was performed on her. Paramedics arrived at the swimming complex at around 7.30pm and she was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, before being transferred to KK Women's and Children's Hospital the next day. State Coroner Kamala said that according to Mr Garett Lim, who is a trainer of the Swimsafer programme at Sport SG, Sherlyn should not have been left to swim alone. She was about 10m from her coach when the incident happened. Mr Lim also said the swimming board is a poor flotation device which is not stable and may float away, leaving the child unaided. The state coroner added: "Children, in particular, need constant supervision around water which cannot be done if the coach is not able to see them." Sherlyn's family members were in court on Tuesday but they declined to comment.

Now our gahmen is expanding the coverage to "distracted walking", although is only advisory for the time being. "The updated Highway Code, which took effect on Dec 1, comes after two Land Transport Authority (LTA) initiatives that encourage pedestrians to pay attention on the road." 'Distracted walking': Should it be made illegal? https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/distracted-walking-should-it-be-made-illegal-12131390

A crash resulting in serious injury or death is more likely to be caused by a distracted driver than a drinking one. Waikato District Health Board trauma specialist Dr Grant Christey said distracted drivers cause 25 per cent of serious crashes, whereas drinking drivers cause 18 per cent. "The most common reasons are texting or talking on a mobile phone, people talking in the car, or kids in the back." "They also suggest you are 400 per cent more likely to crash if you're using a mobile phone Please be safe out there everyone!!

Luckily there's no fatality........I thought there's always 1 adult in the bus to control the children as well as helping them to get up and alight from the bus? http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews...323-335247.html

Here is something you always hear folks say "Look where you are going!" and you start wondering what if you do not... Watch the video foortage in the weblink at bottom of the page. From STOMP: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg/stomp/sg...s_into_van.html Biker gets distracted by pretty woman and crashes into van If you're on the road, make sure your eyes are fixated on the road and nowhere else -- that's the lesson this motorcyclist in China learnt when he crashed into a van. The motorcyclist turned his head to get a glimpse of a girl he had rode past and crashed into a van before another motorcycle crashed into him. STOMPer RoadSafetyPlease, who saw this video online, wrote: "Guys, this video shows you why you should always keep your eyes on the road and not get distracted by a pretty girl. "A motorcyclist in China turned his head to look at a woman in a skirt and crashed into a van parked along the road. "Another motorist later crashed into the fallen motorcyclist, who was later sent to hospital on an ambulance. "That's the price you pay for having a roving eye." STOMP is preparing the video and will post it here as soon as it is ready.

saw a woman holding a plate with her left hand and chopsticks with her right, eating. she did it while driving! also see women painting their faces, people texting etc. what have you seen drivers do besides driving?

Transportation Dept. kicks off meeting on texting, mobile use by drivers. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Govt-to-cons...939137.html?x=0

Crash ends NZ trip Not sure if i shd post the whole article here. but anyway... I think the biggest issue, other than fatigue and speed, is distraction by scenery. Just got back from australia a few days ago. to cut a long story short, we drove the great ocean road. I found it much safer at night, except for the kangaroos which hopped across the road, once. the solution to tt is to keep a safe speed. in the day, i found myself trying hard to keep my focus on the road and not the scenery. call me swakoo, but i found it a truly spectacular drive. wished my wife could drive me instead, but i'll probably die of worry when u consider more traffic in the day with drivers in both directions looking at the scenery now and then, imagine... at night, there are no other drivers on the roads, which i found to be quite helpful. i'm not saying that one should drive at night, but that's one thing to consider. i didn't plan to travel part of the GOR at night myself. it was kinda an accident cos the town we planned to stay at had no suitable accomodation, so had to press on and head to the next town abt 50kms away on winding two lane roads. one thing to credit my wife with is tt she always keeps awake to help me keep watch for stuff and to talk to me or slap me if i'm sleepy. haha.. can't imagine long drives without a co-driver.