Readers Response [Final] [25 November 2017]

According to the article, “Floor lights helps ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road,” Tan (2017) reported Singaporeans tend to look down on their phones while crossing the road, this post a danger not only to themselves but also the traffic. Hence, Land Transport Authority (LTA) launched an initiative to counter the issue by installing ground Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights at pedestrian crossings. Tan also mentioned that LTA picked two high pedestrian volume locations for six months to test for its effectiveness before officially installing it at other places. Tan also further stated that each pair of strips at the crossing stands weighs a hefty price tag of $10,000 to $13,000, making it an expensive investment.

LTA’s initiative to install the ground light might cause the mobile phone users to be over-reliant of this technology. 

First of all, ground LED lights technology will change the behaviour of people crossing the road in the long term. People will reliant on the lights when they cross the road.
Sulleyman (2017) mentioned that "we don't want people to use phones when they're dealing with traffic, even when walking around. People must always look around them, to check if cars actually stopping at the red signals.” If this technology is mass installed island wide, mobile phone users will soon be dependent on the light and will not check on traffic before crossing the road. In the same article, dutch road safety group VVN mentioned that the LED lights will encouraged bad human behaviour. For instance, if the vehicle is not able to stop on time, and pedestrians overlooked the situation, accident maybe detrimental. 

Alternatively, LTA should work towards educating people about the negative consequences of using mobile phones whilst crossing the roads rather than implementing on pricey LED lights along the pedestrian crossings.  In an article, Pakri (2017) stated that “there is no need for LTA to accommodate these “smartphone zombies”. It should be instead discouraged such behaviour on the road”. Pakri (2017) also said “at least deploy officers at pedestrian crossings to caution and educate them”. This idea will work as the ‘smartphone zombies’ will be stopped and be warn about the danger of it.  

As implementing this technology will serve as a short term solution, LTA should path into educating the citizen through various methods. Based on the article, Chua (2017) reported that road users will get up close with dangerous traffic situations without any risks through the help of Virtual Reality (VR) system. This approach aims the younger generations about the danger of traffic and pedestrian skills. The system requires the users to turn their heads to the left and right like the actual pedestrian crossing setting to look out for vehicles before crossing. This campaign will instil muscles memory to people to watch out for traffic before making the cross. Not only should this campaign target the younger generation, it should also reach out to everyone around the world. Aside from Singapore, other countries are facing the similar issues and they are implementing the LED strips as well. Why not set up campaign to educate all these people from the danger of crossing road with eyes glued to their mobile phones. 

In conclusion, LTA should reassess the need to implement on LED strips on the pedestrian crossings as it is a short-term solution and it will cause people to be over reliance on the lights. Furthermore, the LED strips will bring negative effects such as complacency and harmful learning to the younger generations. Instead of investing on LED strips, the LTA should educate and send messages to people about the consequences of crossing the road blindly. In addition, campaigns can be set up at various crossings with high traffic volume so people like learn more about it.

Poh Shi Lei

24 November 2017

Reference:

Chua, J. (2017, May 26). Road Safety Campaign takes a VR twist. The Todaysonline. Retrieved from 2017, September 26 http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/road-safety-campaign-takes-vr-twist

Pakri, S. (2017, May 15). Educate 'Smartphone Zombies', not accommodate them. The Straits Times. Retrieved from 2017, September 25 
http://www.straitstimes.com/forum/letters-in-print/educate-smartphone-zombies-not-accommodate-them

Tan, C. (2017, May 10). Floor lights helps ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road. The Straits Times. Retrieved from 2017, September 25 http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/floor-lights-help-smartphone-zombies-keep-eye-on-the-road

Titcomb, J. (2017, February 16). Pavement lights installed near Dutch schools to guide smartphone-obsessed pedestrians. The Telegraph. Retrieved from 2017, September 25 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/02/17/pavement-lights-installed-near-dutch-schools-guide-smartphone/

Sulleyman, A. (2017, February 16). The system, called +Lichtlijn, has attracted criticism from the Dutch Traffic Safety Association. Independent. Retrieved from 2017, September 25 http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/traffic-lights-pavement-smartphone-users-look-down-dutch-pedestrians-netherlands-a7584081.html