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<!-- headline one : start --><TR>Bring back good, old-fashioned police patrols to check speeding on highways
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->EXPRESSWAYS and some other roads are under significant surveillance by cameras, in some cases at intervals of 1km or so.
Yet I question their efficiency. Every day, when I use the expressway system and major roads, I see countless examples of speeding and dangerous driving. Not only cars but trucks, vans and buses (with their mandatory speed limit posted on the rear) race along the road, make wild lane changes and tailgate other vehicles with complete indifference to the cameras supposed to be watching them. Do these drivers know something I do not? Can the Traffic Police provide details of the number of offenders caught by the camera system?
When I was residing in the United States, I found that drivers, generally speaking, observe speed limits. The primary reason is that one expects a police patrol car to be waiting around the next corner. An impersonal camera is a less effective and less immediate deterrent than the sound of a police siren and the sight of flashing blue and red lights in your mirror. In Singapore, by contrast, one hardly ever sees a police patrol car.
I call on the authorities to introduce regular heavy patrolling of Singapore's roads by experienced Traffic Police officers. I believe this will not only prove a highly effective deterrent to speeding and other dangerous driving, but also prevent two other curses on the roads - filthy exhaust emission from many commercial vehicles and illegal parking. William Laws
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<!-- headline one : start --><TR>Bring back good, old-fashioned police patrols to check speeding on highways
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->EXPRESSWAYS and some other roads are under significant surveillance by cameras, in some cases at intervals of 1km or so.
Yet I question their efficiency. Every day, when I use the expressway system and major roads, I see countless examples of speeding and dangerous driving. Not only cars but trucks, vans and buses (with their mandatory speed limit posted on the rear) race along the road, make wild lane changes and tailgate other vehicles with complete indifference to the cameras supposed to be watching them. Do these drivers know something I do not? Can the Traffic Police provide details of the number of offenders caught by the camera system?
When I was residing in the United States, I found that drivers, generally speaking, observe speed limits. The primary reason is that one expects a police patrol car to be waiting around the next corner. An impersonal camera is a less effective and less immediate deterrent than the sound of a police siren and the sight of flashing blue and red lights in your mirror. In Singapore, by contrast, one hardly ever sees a police patrol car.
I call on the authorities to introduce regular heavy patrolling of Singapore's roads by experienced Traffic Police officers. I believe this will not only prove a highly effective deterrent to speeding and other dangerous driving, but also prevent two other curses on the roads - filthy exhaust emission from many commercial vehicles and illegal parking. William Laws
