Singapore is a small country. You can drive from east to west along the highways that totaled to approximately 50km. That is from Changi Airport to Tuas Checkpoint that leads to Malaysia. Or you can drive from south to east, a 30km journey from our beautiful resort island Sentosa to the not too beautiful Woodlands Checkpoint, which also leads to Malaysia. In this small country, we have an efficient road network and an electronic pricing system that many of my overseas friends envy. What they do not know is that although our roads are efficient, some of our drivers are not too smart. Foreigners living within Singapore often tell me how amazed they are with the number of road incidents we have in such a tiny country. A road network that is 50km in width and 30km in height. I too am a driver. I have often seen traffic congestion caused by road incidents. I have nearly got into an accident recently when three cars in front of mine suddenly jam braked and one hit another. Fortunately, common sense told me not to tailgate a chain of cars that were tailgating a blinking ambulance. How stupid it is to form an impenetrable chain of cars at high speed when every other car on the left want to get back to the fast lane? Right?
In Singapore, we have road junctions that are regulated by traffic lights. Green means go, for those who are traveling straight. If you want to turn left, you may need to give way to the pedestrians who are crossing the road. If you want to turn right, you may need to get into a “pocket” located in the middle of the junction and give way to the cars coming from the opposite direction (both heading straight and turning left) as well as the pedestrians crossing the road. When unsure of safety, common sense tells us to stay on the pocket till we are sure of the situation. As the green light expires, a green right-turn-only arrow will light up to give those who are turning right a chance to cross safely. It is a good and efficient system so long as people follow the rule. Or rather, understand the rationale behind the rule.
There are a few problems with this setup, apparently to the Singapore drivers who may not have good common sense. Inside the pocket, at times the view may be blocked by, say, a large vehicle on the opposite side of the road that also wants to turn right. So, some would inch beyond their “pocket”, try to pull their necks out and see if the road is clear to turn right. The problem is that if one is to look at this situation from the satellite view, by getting out of the pocket, the driver is positioning his car to the fast lane of the incoming traffic that he or she is unable to see. Some take a leap of faith and cross the road even when there is no clear vision. Is it dangerous? Sure it is. Is it a smart move? Sure it is not.
Another problem is that Singapore drivers do not like to signal when changing directions. So, those who are turning right looking at those incoming traffic and wonder: Hey, that car seems to have slowed down. Is he going to turn left? If so, I can beat him to it, yes? Well, from my observation, it is a half-half case. Some slow down at a junction due to safety concern. These are good drivers. Some intend to turn left and don’t signal. These are our regular drivers. As I always say, when in doubt, stay inside the pocket and cross the road when you are absolutely sure of its safety. Even if the car behind you may be honking or high beaming you, do the right things in life.
So, back to my diary. This morning, it rained. It is still raining as I am typing out this entry. The road was wet and I have dropped Cynthia off at her office. I was heading home because I am on leave today. As always, cars shooting out from the side roads without paying attention to the main road traffic. That is OK. I am used to it, dodging cars the best I could. At one junction between South Bridge Road and South Canal Road, the green light was on. I signaled and was about to turn left. Ahead of me, there was two cars going straight. All of a sudden, one SUV from the opposite direction has decided to turn right. And BAM! it collided with a sedan car. The front bumper of the sedan was gone. The SUV was hit at the back, lost control, did a 180 degree turn on a wet road, nearly crashed onto the pedestrians waiting at the traffic light. It was like watching a silence movie as Japanese music was playing in my car stereo blocking any crashing sound that came from the outside. I remember clearly that I did not scream double-u tee ef, or qué pasa in Spanish. I screamed, “Wah!” I think in time of emergency, we naturally switch to our mother tongue.
If there is one take home message, or one message to pass along, drive intelligently and responsibly. Don’t test your luck.