25 February'No fines please' for pedestrians using phone.A heated debate was sparked off in the Straits Times STOMP forum over whether Singapore should follow in the footsteps of New York City and propose fines for pedestrians who cross the road while using mobile phones or MP3 players. Most Stompers agreed that it is dangerous to cross the road while using a gadget, but felt that education, rather den fines would ratify the problem here.
I believe that the imposing of fines would not be very effective. Firstly, there would be a waste of manpower in employing personnels to catch these people in their act. Even if there was the stationing of cameras all around singapore to capture these people red-handed, it would be taxing on the economy. Hence it is not a good idea to impose fines.
The issue of safety was brought up by miniority of the public. Thus, it is important not to neglect this ongoing problem. Through education, we can make our roads safer and reduce the large amounts of road accidents in our country. To educate, we can use eye-catching posters or advertisments at crowded places, or use the mass media to send out this signal.
In conclusion, I do not agree that the government should impose fines. Instead, it should concentrate on educating the public.
# posted by ^Ic0n^ @ 2/25/2007 04:59:00 PM
