Zebra crossings should be made safer for pedestrians by installing warning signals that could be seen clearly by motorists. The public, meanwhile, should be encouraged to use the crossings correctly for their own and other road users' safety.

Others, however, felt that the main problem is to encourage the public to make use of such crossings in the first place.

Jesse, a 43-year-old mother of two said that she often has problems getting a clear view of people making use of these crossings at the Gadong area because of the area's low lighting. 'Personally, them has already been a few times when I could not sec if anyone was crossing, especially during rainy nights I was just lucky that nothing untoward has happened," she said.

"we know where the crossings are so we slow down when approaching them, but it can still be very dangerous when it is raining heavily and the pedestrians are rushing to cross the road. It is even worse when they are wearing dark clothings," added Jesse.

She said that the large number of crossings in the area was a "very good" idea as they helped ro slow down the traffic but, at the same time, increased the distractions faced by motorists.

"There are a lot of people in Gadong at night. There are also a lot of cars and other distractions around you. I think it will make it safer for everyone if we can just make the specific areas around these crossings brighter," she suggested.

Another point that was constantly brought up was prior warning signs to inform motorists of these crossings.

Jack Tan, who works in the construction sector, said that he has had several near misses while driving from Bandar ro Muara. "There are a few worn down crossings along Jalan

Muara where you cannot really see them until you get really close. They need to install some warning signals such as those in Bandar Seri Begawan so we (drivers) can slow down in time," said Tan.

He added that pedestrians also needed to pay more attention to the traffic.

Have seen on one occasion, where a middle-aged man had crossed the road without even checking if there were any approaching cars," he said.

"The car had to brake hand to avoid an accident and the middle-aged man even caused quite a commotion shouting and pointing fingers.

He added, "Even though, it was a zebra crossing, I feel that the fault lies with the pedestrian because how would the motorists know that he was going to cross the road. The man was just walking along the road and started crossing without even stopping for a second."

Meanwhile, civil servant Mohd Azim said that the main problem should not be about improving the aesthetics of these crossings but to get people to use them in the first place.

"We have more than enough of these crossings and most people do not use them anyway. Even I am too lazy to walk any extra distance. I will just cross wherever I can," he said.

When asked what has to be done before he would make use of such crossings, Mohd Azim said that the relevant authorities have to start imposing fines.

"It has already been implemented in other countries and it works. We should introduce them here or people will not care," said the civil servant.

The Brunei Times spent approximately an hour yesterday observing a strip of mad with two zebra crossings in close proximity with each other at the Gadong commercial area.

Even though a fair amount of people specifically crossed the roads by means of such crossings, as many as 25 did not.

When asked why they neglected the use of the zebra crossings, one individual who opted for anonymity, replied: "The weather is just too hot. I don't want to spend any uneccessary time under the sun."-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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Road education on TV
written by fikri , December 22, 2009

Educate the public by televising the information and broadcasting in radio. If they listen or watch it every hour, people will be made very aware of the appropriate etiquette.

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