In
the article “Floor lights help 'smartphone zombies' keep eye on the road”,
Christopher Tan (2017) reports that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is
implementing a new road-crossing feature at two locations which involves fixing
LED strips onto pavements by those pedestrian crossings. The strips will
imitate signals of pedestrian crossings and can be seen throughout the entire
day. According to an interview by the author, Gopinath Meno (2017), senior
research fellow of Nanyang technological University states that the
installation of the floor lights will enhance safety of those who are
constantly looking at their smartphones as they are unaware of the road
condition. Although this initiative can enhance safety of pedestrians, I am not
convinced that its implementation will be sufficient in tackling the
‘smartphone zombies’ problem.
Other
than just installing the LED strips at the locations, more can be done. LTA
should raise more awareness to let the public know more about the strips’
purpose. Also, efforts in educating road safety should be increased.
To
allow the strips to achieve its uses completely, more awareness about the LED strips
can be raised to allow the public to understand its purpose and how it works. When
being interviewed, many pedestrians are not aware that the strips are being implemented
(Chua, 2017). Although there are pedestrians who managed to spot it in action,
not all of them understand how it works. One of them thought that the strips
are festive decorations (Chua, 2017) and have no idea of its intended use. As such,
more awareness about the strips can be raised and can be in a form of
advertisement. An advertisement highlighting its purpose should be shown on our
televisions, this will be useful in reaching out to our senior citizens who
watches television frequently. For appealing to our ‘smartphone zombies’, the
advertisement can be uploaded onto the social media for them to know that the
strips are in place to assist them and should pay attention to them while
crossing the road. Most importantly, it should also remind them about their
responsibility in upholding road safety.
On top
of raising public awareness about operation of the LED strips, efforts in educating
road safety should be increased as well. I feel that this can be in a form of
having more roadshows to educate the public. Currently, there is one of such
roadshows being held annually which is the Singapore Road Safety Month (SRSM).
It is a three-day event jointly organised by the Traffic Police (TP) and
Singapore Road Safety Council (SRSC) which promotes road safety to road users since
year 2013. I feel that the organisers can increase their effort by having SRSM at
more places to reach out to more people. They should delicate a full month to
this campaign by having the roadshow on rotation to different heartland areas
so that people from all over the country can benefit from it. Also, the SRSM
can have more advisories focusing on “smartphone zombies’ and have posters
promoting the LED strips too.
With
the increased educating efforts, raised awareness about the LED strips and its
implementation, I believe we are now sufficient to tackle the “smartphone
zombies” within our country.
Reference
Chua, X. (2017, May 09). New flashing LED strips for
pedestrians at 2 traffic-light crossings. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/new-flashing-led-strips-pedestrians-2-traffic-light-crossings
News Release - Singapore Road Safety Month 2017.
(2017, May 26). Retrieved September 28, 2017, from https://www.police.gov.sg/news-and-publications/media-releases/20170526_others_singapore_road_safety_month_2017
Tan, C. (2017, May 09). Floor lights help
'smartphone zombies' keep eye on the road. Retrieved September 27, 2017, from http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/floor-lights-help-smartphone-zombies-keep-eye-on-the-road
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