Communication

Communication

Tuesday, 3 October 2017

Reader's response draft 2


In the article “Floor lights help ‘smartphone zombies’ keep eye on the road” Tan (2017), states that LED strips installed in walkways creates safety awareness by helping smartphone addicts to stay alert on the road. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be introducing a half-year pilot program on the pricey LED strips at two different junctions due to large number of pedestrians of “different demographics”. The LED lights are conspicuous in the day, resembling the conventional red and green man signals of the traffic light, which allow the authority to evaluate the suitability and the functional use of the feature in Singapore’s climate conditions. Reports from the Traffic Police indicates a rise in the number of pedestrian injuries and fatal accidents, such initiative will make road crossing a safer experience for all pedestrians. 
The statistics proved the surge in traffic accidents are largely pedestrians, however the author put the blame on elderly pedestrians for causing the hike. The primary cause is still actually due to the ‘smartphone zombie’.
There are no specific statistical data to substantiate the evidence in Singapore, but there are news articles that report on the accidents involving pedestrians. According to an article “Using your phone as you walk may get you in an accident” Lee (2015) reported that a group of four undergraduates from Nanyang Technological University conducted a survey on distracted walking. A total of 419 youth aged 17 to 25 were surveyed and 598 accidents were disclosed. From their findings, the three main causes of distractions are listening to music, texting and talking on the phone. Other consequences include trip and fall and horned by vehicles. The consequences stated by these students may be minor, what happen if the consequences are severe? 
As the use of mobile gadgets have increasingly become part of everyday life, taking eyes off from the road and being unaware of the surrounding can threaten your life. In the article “Caught on dash cam: Girl, checking phone, is hit while crossing road at green man” Ho (2015), a video of a girl knocked down by a taxi during midnight circulated rapidly. In this video, the young girl was seen crossing the traffic junction while using her phone, oblivious to the oncoming taxi approaching her making a right turn. As the taxi could not stop in time, she got hit. Although the traffic light was in her favour, she should still be alert and pay more attention to her surroundings instead of assuming the vehicle will stop for her while crossing the road. 
In another similar case of using mobile devices causing distractions, from the article “Boy, 17, taken to hospital after getting hit by bus” thenewpaper (2016) stated that a 17 years teenager got into an accident with a bus while using his handphone. He was then conveyed to the hospital and had head injuries.
From the three evidences shown above, being engrossed in using mobile devices will cause divided attention, reducing vision field which will result in endangering the safety of the road users and oneself.
The elderly pedestrians are vulnerable to rapid traffic movement, putting themselves at a higher risk of danger. In the article “20% jump in number of accident involving elderly pedestrians” Ng (2017), reported that there were 268 elderly-related accidents in 2016, an increase from 19.6 per cent in 2015. Death was 28 per cent, of which 16 cases are due to jaywalking. The reason being that the elderly has a slow reflex and unable to react fast, resulting in the increment of accidents.
In conclusion, although the elderly makes up a small percentage of the accident, the main driver is primarily the “smartphone zombie”. LED strips might be effective in tackling smartphone addicts, however the responsibility still lies on individual to keep a lookout in order to stay safe.
Reference:
Ho, O. (2015, April 24). Caught on dash cam: Girl, checking phone, is hit while crossing road at green 

Lee, P. (2017) Using your phone as you walk may get you in an accident. Retrieved, September 26, 

Ng, K. (2017, February 16). 20% jump in number of accidents involving elderly pedestrians. 

Tan, C. (2017, May 10). Floor lights help 'smartphone zombies' keep eye on the road. Retrieved 
The newpaper. (2016, February 21). Boy, 17, taken to hospital after getting hit by bus. Retrieved


 Edited:
09/10/17

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