Too Many People Have Died...

When will We ever Learn?

Today’s fatal accident is really tragic and could have been avoided if everyone on the road practises some common sense and realises that a moving vehicle is a weapon of death and destruction. From the details of the incident, it appears that both drivers are quite young and inexperienced.

While the maintenance standards for traffic signals could be improved by having more competent contractors, motorists too have a part to play when the lights malfunction. Some tolerance and patience is needed when the lights are not operating.

Too often, motorists just accelerate when they approach a junction where the lights are not working and they just hope to join the stream of traffic. Meanwhile others are trying to enter the junction and have been waiting for a break in the traffic. The usual result is that the junction will get grid locked after a few minutes as no one wants to stop.

The USA has this arrangement for crossroads where there are no traffic lights. All motorists must stop at the junction. The first motorist to arrive at the junction has the right of way. I found this out the first time I drove in the States and other motorists honked me to move!

Of course this slows the traffic but people are disciplined and follow it. Perhaps we could have a Stop sign with a notice below such as “Only when lights rosak”.