I don't know if it's just me but there seem to be more articles in the papers these days reporting people stating the obvious. Nothing else to report or what?
In yesterday's Sunday Times, there was this article entitled 'Make roads safer for the elderly, say experts'. Ground-breaking, isn't it? The paper interviewed the elderly and experts on the issue of elderly pedestrians and their road-crossing habits and came to this intelligent conclusion:
"Most felt that pedestrian crossing lights should stay green longer, and that there should be more traffic light crossings instead of overhead bridges."
Duh.
The problem of the elderly jaywalking is nothing new. The fact that older people take longer to cross the road is nothing new. The fact that older people prefer road crossings to overhead bridges is nothing new (Wah, don't say older people. I also avoid overhead bridges.)
This guy from the National Safety Council so kindly said that "many elderly pedestrians are vulnerable because they do not take the trouble to look out, cannot make the crossing in time or are carrying heavy loads... Often, elderly people such as karung guni men pull big bags or trolleys. And I've heard of elderly women who jaywalk and expect traffic to stop for them by holding up their hands."
What kind of attitude is that? Never heard of empathy ah? Think it's easy to be old, have trouble walking fast (or have trouble walking) and have to carry big bags or loads across the road ah?
Anyway, I thought it should have been obvious that something needed to be done for elderly road users long before we got worried about our ageing population. I remember some twenty years ago, my driving instructor already made it a point to remind me to look out for the elderly on the roads. They don't know the highway code, he used to say.
May I also add that they also need to look into the issue of more older drivers on the road, building lifts in multi-storey car parks and such.
In yesterday's Sunday Times, there was this article entitled 'Make roads safer for the elderly, say experts'. Ground-breaking, isn't it? The paper interviewed the elderly and experts on the issue of elderly pedestrians and their road-crossing habits and came to this intelligent conclusion:
"Most felt that pedestrian crossing lights should stay green longer, and that there should be more traffic light crossings instead of overhead bridges."
Duh.
The problem of the elderly jaywalking is nothing new. The fact that older people take longer to cross the road is nothing new. The fact that older people prefer road crossings to overhead bridges is nothing new (Wah, don't say older people. I also avoid overhead bridges.)
This guy from the National Safety Council so kindly said that "many elderly pedestrians are vulnerable because they do not take the trouble to look out, cannot make the crossing in time or are carrying heavy loads... Often, elderly people such as karung guni men pull big bags or trolleys. And I've heard of elderly women who jaywalk and expect traffic to stop for them by holding up their hands."
What kind of attitude is that? Never heard of empathy ah? Think it's easy to be old, have trouble walking fast (or have trouble walking) and have to carry big bags or loads across the road ah?
Anyway, I thought it should have been obvious that something needed to be done for elderly road users long before we got worried about our ageing population. I remember some twenty years ago, my driving instructor already made it a point to remind me to look out for the elderly on the roads. They don't know the highway code, he used to say.
May I also add that they also need to look into the issue of more older drivers on the road, building lifts in multi-storey car parks and such.
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