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Steps to boost road safety in school zones by 2018

SINGAPORE — By 2018, most primary schools will have improved road-safety measures, such as specially designed signs and centre dividers, as part of an ongoing effort to beef up road safety in school zones.

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SINGAPORE — By 2018, most primary schools will have improved road-safety measures, such as specially designed signs and centre dividers, as part of an ongoing effort to beef up road safety in school zones.

These new initiatives have been rolled out at 10 primary schools, as part of a pilot programme by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

From the second quarter of the year, the measures will be extended progressively to the other 200 Enhanced School Zones — which include most primary schools —with work expected to be completed by 2018, said Parliamentary Secretary (Health and Transport) Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim yesterday.

Among the new measures is a 40kmh When Lights Flash sign. The three-tiered sign comprises a Children Ahead, School Zone sign, a 40kmh speed-limit sign, beneath which sits a pair of amber light-emitting diode (LED) lights that flash alternately during school peak hours.

Motorists must slow their vehicles to 40kmh when the lights flash. The speed limit in most school zones is 50kmh. Beyond peak hours, the lights may be switched on manually by schools when necessary.

Other safety measures include LOOK markings painted on each end of zebra crossings to remind pedestrians to watch out for traffic before crossing, as well as centre dividers along undivided roads that provide physical separation between the lanes.

These measures were first announced in November 2013 after a review of the School Zone scheme by the Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Committee.

While the Traffic Police did not reveal updated figures on road accidents or traffic offences in school zones, earlier statistics showed 60 children were injured in road accidents between January and March last year. One died and 45 were injured in the same period in 2013.

Assoc Prof Faishal, who also chairs the Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Committee, said pupils feel reassured by the measures. “At the end of the day, it’s for them and we want to take care of them (and) their safety, so they are able to go to school (and) their parents need not have to be worried about their safety,” he told reporters after co-launching a sign near Canberra Primary School, one of those in the pilot, with Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Member of Parliament for Nee Soon GRC.

Pupils interviewed by TODAY said they felt safer with the new measures.

Aw Shuo Jie, 12, from Canberra Primary School, said some motorists drive dangerously near his school during the morning rush hour, as they are hurrying to work. “They don’t really slow down ... (at the) traffic lights,” said the Primary Six pupil.

The school’s principal, Mr Sam Wong, said the initiatives complement efforts to educate the pupils about road safety. “By itself (the slew of initiatives), it is only a structure. Together with the commitment and the education of the students, it becomes a very good safety habit that we can instil in students,” he added.

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