Please let us be responsible for our own lives!
Having returned from China recently, I decided to go to a nearby shopping complex to do some shopping. It has been some time since I last went there, so you could imagine my dismay when I saw a new road barrier constructed right across the road where paths from two sides of the road were supposed to meet. That means I had to walk more than 70 meters towards either side of the barrier before I could cross the road.
Being a law abiding citizen, I decided to walk 70 meters left towards the overhead bridge, not without complaints of course:
Why did the authorities build a road barrier across the road, when the road crossing has existed for the past 10 years? It is human nature to walk from one point to the other, using the shortest possible route. This route has been accessible for the past 10 years and more, and it has become ritualised for all pedestrians who take this route daily. The existing traffic rule (as far as I can remember, for I tried searching for an updated version on the internet but to no avail) dictates that there should be no jay-walking within 50 meters of an existing road crossing. In this case, the nearest crossing is the overhead bridge, but it is more than 70 meters from where the crossing used to be. Why am I made to walk more than 140 meters plus 2 flight of stairs (the overhead bridge) just to get to the other side of the road?
The society is made up of all kinds of people, not just drivers. There are old folks whose knees ache at every additional step they take (let alone walking up the overhead bridge), there are parents with 3 kids who have too much in their hands to manage a longer route, and there are youths who are just too cool to be bothered by a silly road barrier.
These people will choose to cross the road and negotiate their way over the barrier anytime, rather than to make a 150 meters detour. One man in his 40s who stopped to ask me why I was taking photos said this, "I have crossed the road this way for the past 10 years what!". In the eyes of many of these people, what the authorities have done was to have added a new element of danger, apart from the cars on the road, for the pedestrians. Everyone agreed that the barrier should be removed, and let the people take responsibilities for their own lives.
Being a law abiding citizen, I decided to walk 70 meters left towards the overhead bridge, not without complaints of course:
Why did the authorities build a road barrier across the road, when the road crossing has existed for the past 10 years? It is human nature to walk from one point to the other, using the shortest possible route. This route has been accessible for the past 10 years and more, and it has become ritualised for all pedestrians who take this route daily. The existing traffic rule (as far as I can remember, for I tried searching for an updated version on the internet but to no avail) dictates that there should be no jay-walking within 50 meters of an existing road crossing. In this case, the nearest crossing is the overhead bridge, but it is more than 70 meters from where the crossing used to be. Why am I made to walk more than 140 meters plus 2 flight of stairs (the overhead bridge) just to get to the other side of the road?
The society is made up of all kinds of people, not just drivers. There are old folks whose knees ache at every additional step they take (let alone walking up the overhead bridge), there are parents with 3 kids who have too much in their hands to manage a longer route, and there are youths who are just too cool to be bothered by a silly road barrier.
These people will choose to cross the road and negotiate their way over the barrier anytime, rather than to make a 150 meters detour. One man in his 40s who stopped to ask me why I was taking photos said this, "I have crossed the road this way for the past 10 years what!". In the eyes of many of these people, what the authorities have done was to have added a new element of danger, apart from the cars on the road, for the pedestrians. Everyone agreed that the barrier should be removed, and let the people take responsibilities for their own lives.
posted by Wind at 5:07 AM
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