培养公路安全意识In recent weeks a spate of fatal road accidents, some involving school children at pedestrian crossings, has stirred the nation's conscience and drawn attention to the urgent need to ensure that our roads are safe for everyone. Apart from deaths from illnesses, one of the biggest threats to one's life in highly motorised Singapore is to be killed in a traffic accident. Are most accidents preventable? Certainly yes, if all road users, be they motorists, motorcyclists, cyclists, taxi drivers, heavy vehicle drivers and pedestrians, diligently practise road safety rules that are designed for their protection. In reality, however, these rules are honoured more by their breach than compliance. So a vehicle in irresponsible hands can be a most lethal weapon. Take the average Singaporean driver as an example. A usually rational person can be transformed suddenly into a demon behind a driving wheel. Once his impatience and selfishness gets the better of him, he becomes recklessly indifferent to the traffic rules and safety of others just to get his own way. Our taxi and heavy vehicle drivers also drive like maniacs on the roads, while our motorcyclists and cyclists, seemingly unaware of their particular vulnerability, habitually weave in and out of traffic dangerously, whenever it suits them. The pedestrian, too, knowingly jaywalks in the face of fast-moving traffic. Tragically, many paid with their precious lives in vain. Why are these inconsiderate road behaviours so common in Singapore, when its citizens are regularly held up by others as law-abiding? Do they not realise their foolhardiness and that they are tarnishing the Republic's image? First and foremost, road safety consciousness is ...
