I REFER to recent letters discussing whether traffic light arrangements that permit turning by vehicles while pedestrians are crossing is a safe practice, in the light of the recent accident near the junction of Buangkok Drive and Punggol Road ("Model pupil on her way to class dies in accident", Sept 16).

This recent loss of life turns our attention again to the importance of all road users exercising extreme caution.

First and foremost, we continue to urge all road users - pedestrians, motorists and cyclists - to keep a lookout for all traffic.

Pedestrians must check for traffic when crossing and must not cross when traffic signals are not in their favour. Motorists must remain still when pedestrians are crossing the roads and cyclists must dismount at zebra crossings.

The Land Transport Authority takes utmost care to consider the safety of different groups of road users and still enable overall efficacy of the traffic junction when planning traffic facilities.

Before implementing any traffic facility, a team of traffic engineers reviews the site conditions, evaluates possible traffic configurations and efficiency and, most important, evaluates the safety of road users. Only after extensive deliberation is the traffic scheme implemented.

Letter writers have asked about allowing turning traffic to use gaps in vehicular or pedestrian flow. This is a common traffic configuration to prevent long queues of vehicles building up while trying to turn.

However, at junctions where a motorist's line of sight is blocked by physical obstructions or where turning vehicles cannot find gaps to turn given the high traffic flow, we provide red-amber-green (RAG) arrows to control turning movements.

To further assist motorists, we also paint turning pockets at junctions to improve their line of sight when turning.

Despite all the planning and installing engineering measures to enhance road safety, road user vigilance remains the best protection against accidents.

Helen Lim (Ms)
Deputy Director, Media Relations
Land Transport Authority

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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