Driver Checks On Young Boy After Hitting Him At Teck Whye Avenue On 20 Sep
On Tuesday (20 Sep), Facebook group SG Road Vigilante shared a video of a car colliding with a schoolboy at Teck Whye Avenue.
The driver had apparently failed to give way while making a discretionary right turn at the traffic junction.
In the video, the boy fell heavily onto the road but later recovered enough to walk to the driver’s door.
Immediately, the driver flung her door open and was seen checking on the boy.
Boy falls to the ground after collision with car
On Tuesday (20 Sep) at 4.18pm, the driver of a white Honda was making a discretionary right turn from Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1 to Teck Whye Avenue.
Source: Singapore Road Accidents.com on Facebook
However, she failed to spot a young schoolboy hurriedly crossing the road.
As the driver kept going, the car hit the boy who appeared to be wearing a Teck Whye Primary School PE attire.
The impact immediately knocked the boy down to the ground.
Source: SG Road Vigilante on Facebook
Driver checks on young boy at Teck Whye crossing
Thankfully, the boy did not appear seriously injured but was evidently holding his head as if in pain.
Source: SG Road Vigilante on Facebook
As he got up and approached the driver’s side of the car, the driver opened the door and instinctively reached out to him.
She then appeared to sayang or hold the boy gently and check on him.
Source: SG Road Vigilante on Facebook
The video shows her holding the boy’s left arm while another hand held the back of his head.
Netizen points out dangers of discretionary right turn
At the time of writing, the video has garnered over 350 shares and almost 200 comments.
Some of the comments criticised the driver for not being aware of her surroundings.
Source: Facebook
But one netizen defended her, explaining that pedestrians may not always be visible, especially when they’re in the driver’s blind spot.
Source: SG Road Vigilante on Facebook
Others pointed out that discretionary right turns are generally dangerous features.
Source: SG Road Vigilante on Facebook
Back in 2018, two consecutive fatal accidents involving discretionary right turns at traffic junctions led to a petition to change traffic rules.
The petition titled ‘Change traffic light rules to prevent further casualties (Singapore) garnered 16,571 signatures.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) later announced the introduction of red-amber-green turning arrows at majority of traffic junctions over a 3-year-period.
This was part of efforts to increase pedestrian safety.
On 2 Aug this year, Transport Minister S Iswaran shared that LTA has already installed red-amber-green turning arrows at 798 traffic junctions to replace discretionary right turns.
It is estimated that this number will grow to 1,200 by Q1 of 2024.
Based on a sample of traffic junctions where these turning arrows have been implemented, there has been a 40% reduction in accidents involving right turns.
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Featured image adapted from SG Road Vigilante on Facebook.
