SINGAPORE: After noticing that more and more kids are running across the road without checking for traffic, a concerned Singaporean took to an online forum to ask if pedestrian safety is still being properly taught.
In his Reddit post, he pointed out that many children today do not seem to understand basic road safety, such as recognising red and green man signals or waiting for their turn to cross. This led him to wonder whether traffic safety education has “changed over the years” or if people are simply “becoming more careless”.
To back up his concerns, he shared two incidents involving kids in his neighbourhood. In one case, he said he saw a secondary school student being thrown a considerable distance after being struck by a car. “He was hospitalised and is [fortunately] well now,” he wrote.
In another incident, he said he witnessed a young child crossing the road without paying attention to his surroundings.
“[The child was] using the mobile phone without lifting his head; the car long honked at him. I asked the parent if he didn’t know about basic pedestrian etiquette; she laughed and said it’s not her problem and that next year, he’s going to primary school, and the teacher will then teach,” he continued.
He also observed that it’s not just children who are being reckless but adults as well. He shared, “Just yesterday I saw adults on bicycles crossing when it’s not their turn, which seems dangerous. A kid on a bicycle who was lagging behind tried to follow suit; I had to stop him to prevent him from being the wheelchocks of the approaching bus.”
“Monkey see, monkey do. Some adults don’t even check for traffic but are too engrossed in their phones.”
In the comments section, many Singaporean Redditors agreed that they’ve noticed this concerning trend as well.
“Kids nowadays are like, wow. Even if the bicycle is right in front of them, they continue like nobody’s business. The parents don’t even bother because they know the bicycle will stop for the kid,” one said.
“Just yesterday a kid was walking in the middle of my car park with earphones in! It’s a car park; literally, cars were driving in and out, but his eyes were glued to his phone, unbothered. I had to honk loudly and only then did I get his attention. Weird,” another shared.
“They are taught in school. But just like every class in every school, there will be some kids who never pay attention or they just don’t care enough,” a third wrote.
However, not everyone believes this behaviour is entirely the fault of the children. Some users pointed out that parents may be to blame for not providing proper guidance or setting a good example.
“Monkey see, monkey do. Some adults don’t even check for traffic but are too engrossed in their phones,” one commented.
“OMG! That parent! What the? The school will teach? Everything wants to be pushed to the school. What are they doing as a parent? Just procreate and have fun? Can laugh some more,” another chimed in.
In other news, a young man asked for help on social media after his dad, who’s in his late 50s, got laid off.
In a post on the ‘Ask Singapore’ Reddit forum, the writer shared that his dad had held a senior marketing leader position at a Fortune 500 company and was initially planning to retire in his 60s. However, his plans got derailed after the unexpected news.
Read more: My dad, late 50s, got laid off; how now?
Featured image by freepik (for illustration purposes only)
