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Saturday, April 28, 2007

Road Design Road Kills

So many accidents on Singapore road in the last 2 weeks, including 3 dead Singaporean in Malaysia. The worst was the Vios which got so smashed up, even the roof was gone. 3 days later, I was driving on old Tampines road which is a small 1 lane road both ways and a small truck veered into my lane during a corner to overtake 2 bicycles. The thing is, the road is big enough for him to stay on it, he does not need to veer into the oncoming lane. I notice in left bends, instead of sticking to the side of the road, people are driving close to the lane divider, which just shows thier judgment really sux as the are afraid they will go onto the grass! You know, while driving in New Zealand, the roads are built such that during a left corner or bend, the road actually dips to the left, just like an oval race track, making it harder for cars to veer to the oncoming lane. Great design! Even in mountainous region!

To harp on road design in Singapore, those stripes which are supposed to reduce your vehicle speed should not be found in sharp bends, they are practically useless there, if the vehicle is fast, it is too late, and if they start braking during a turn, it might make the situation worst. And metals can even be found, just like the ones on KJE to TPE, when the road is wet, it can get bad as I found out a few weeks back. Made my car skid.

Found this website where road accident deaths are compared in SEA.
http://www.adb.org/Documents/News/2004/nr2004155.asp
Singapore had 211 in 2004, but Thailand had a whopping 13,116 next was Vietnam at 11,319 and Malaysia had 6,282. Now compared to New Zealand with 2006 statistics of 371, with the highest numbers in Cities, does road design helps?

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