Be responsible

I was taking the bus this morning and am appalled at what I saw... How can people be so darn irresponsible, even if they do not care for their lives, the least they could do is spare a thought for other people, especially drivers.

From what I know, drivers are deemed to be at fault whenever an accident happens between a vehicle and a pedestrian, whether or not it's the driver's fault coz he's supposed to keep a lookout for pedestrians. I feel that this is unfair to all drivers, though I agree that there are reckless drivers around and such rules are to help prevent accidents from happening, there are also alot of reckless pedestrians around, what are we doing to these people?

Irresponsible pedestrians 1

Location: The road towards Suntec City, in between Raffles City and Raffles Hotel.

I was on the bus when I saw this group of people trying to cross the road from Raffles City to the bus stop over at Raffles Hotel. First of all, it's a 4 lane road with construction going on, then it's the early morning traffic so the amount of vehicles is crazy. There are traffic lights at both end of the road, it takes at most a 5 min walk to detour to the traffic junction to cross the road.

 

Yet these people choose to risk their lives, risk the lives of all the car drivers and passengers and dash across the road. It's crazy, seriously crazy.. And the worst thing is, they choose to cross the road in front of a moving bus. It's a bus for goodness sake, it's high up and sometimes the bus driver just can't see you!!

 

Stupid people, is there really such a rush? Do they have to dash across the road just to catch the bus? I would understand if the person is running late and his office is like at Shenton way, but this particular guy dashed across the road to take Bus Service 77, which ends at Pan Pacific.. That's just like a stone's throw away but he have to risk his life to dash across the road to catch the bus.. man..

 

And as I mentioned, the bus was moving off when that guy dashed right across.. Granted the bus was just picking up speed and is going like 10 km/h, but heck, it's a bus, it has a lot of mass and that translate to inertia, what if the brake fails? Do the bus driver have to be responsible for someone else's recklessness?

Irresponsible pedestrians 2

Location: The road towards ECP, in between Pan Pacific Hotel and Marina Square.

It's the final stop for the bus and as the crowd alights, there are people who conveniently try to cross the road in front and behind the bus. Man.. how many times do I have to say this?! It's damn stupid to try to cross the road in front and behind a bus coz the bus driver might not be able to see you when he starts to drive off.. and what if the hand brakes are not working and the bus starts sliding back? Again the question, should the bus driver be responsible for someone else's recklessness?

 

The other thing I'm peeved about it that there's a huge overhead bridge just behind the bus stop, and there's an escalator which can bring you to the upper level, yet those stupid people choose to try their luck and run across the road. It's a fucking 4-lane road with heavy traffic, the overhead bridge is just behind and they can't use it? I can hear all the cars honking at them, if I'm driving, I'm stop at the side and give them a good dressing down.

 

Fuck, if you dun care about your life, please remember that my car is probably worth more than your life and I'm not happy that I have to pay for the damages that your recklessness might do to my car. Yes, I care more for my car than your life, but fuck, you are the one who put your life at danger, it's your choice, not mine. Your life is cheap, my car is not.

 

Really damn pissed at all these people.

 

Oh, I haven got started on cyclists.. I remember back when I was younger, cyclists are more polite and cherish their lives more, they dun think they own the pedestrian walks and they obey traffic rules.

I'm not too clear about this, but I do remember that a cyclist cannot ride their bicycle across a traffic junction, meaning they have to get down and push their bicycle when they are crossing a traffic junction or a zebra crossing. These days, do you ever see anyone doing that? I'm like the only person I know who does that..

 

There's a reason why we require cyclist to push their bicycle across the road, it is inconvenient, but it's really for safety reasons. We all know that a bicycle is a relatively fast mode of transport compared to walking, so while it's reasonable to assume that a driver can see a pedestrian coming, it's not reasonable to expect them to see a speeding bicycle. How many times had we have close shaves with bicycles that suddenly appears out of nowhere and rides across the pedestrian crossing?

 

I really feel that we should have clearer rules on what can and cannot be done for bicycles, are they supposed to be on the pedestrian crossing? or on the roads? Without a clear indication, we have cyclists who thinks they own the pedestrian crossing and roads, they switch as and when they like with totally no regards to the pedestrian or cars around them, then when accidents happens, it's always the car at fault. That is so unfair and it's just not right.

 

Please people, please be responsible for your own lives and spare a thought for others. Being safe is a personal responsibility and it's the duty of the parent to teach their kids this message. Oh man.. that brings me to jay walking with baby strollers.. for goodness sake, that's a baby who is dependent on you for everything, and you choose to put his life at risk just coz you cannot take the extra 10 steps to the traffic junction?

 

*shakes head* We should start to implement a license for parenting. Not everyone is suitable to bring up kids.