There are just too many on the roads. These includes drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists & even pedestrians. Get out of their way. Avoid them. It takes 2 of them to cause an accident. Do NOT be the 2nd one. Practice Defensive Driving & Defensive Riding.
This is indeed, an unfortunate accident. However, we can all learn from this.
I heart goes out to this lady. She must feel terrible. I am very sure it was unintended. The Punishment by the law does not really condemn her as a person. It just makes her responsible for what happened and I think she has taken responsibility for it.
It is not easy to filter at road bends, and especially so for unskilled drivers (occasional driver). Be very sure of your driving skills and ask yourself, "Do I really need to filter... here... and... now?".
It is already very difficult to view things using the rear-view-mirror, and doing it while you are at the bend makes it even more difficult.
When you look in the rear-view-mirror while you are at the road bend, you are seeing what is behind your car... BUT not the whole stretch of road behind you... so you will have to take that into consideration.
When checking your rear-view-mirror, and especially at road bends... you must check all the way back and as far as the eye can see by checking the lane you are in, as well as the adjacent lanes to your left and right. At road bends... this means following the curve of the road behind you. This will need a lot of time to do, so make sure you have that time.
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Mother of two fined $7,000 for causing fatal motor scooter accident
SINGAPORE - A woman who ran over and killed a motorcyclist after failing to check her blind spot while changing lanes was fined $7,000 on Tuesday.
Client relations officer Norizah Samad, 31, was also banned from driving for five years after admitting causing the death of Mr Muhammad Shaheen Abdullah, 32, through her negligence.
She had been driving in the left lane of Bedok North Street 3 - a one-way, two-lane road - last Oct 29 when she tried to filter into the right lane after a right bend.
After checking her rear view and right side mirrors, she turned her head to the right and signaled right before proceeding to filter. But she failed to properly check her blind spot and did not see the victim's scooter travelling in the right lane beside her car.
She only spotted him after half of her vehicle had entered the right lane - but by then it was too late and the car hit the victim's scooter, causing the victim to be flung off his machine and land in front of her car.
Despite jamming on her brakes, she could not stop the car from running over the victim and going up the right kerb.
Norizah's lawyer Rajan Nair said his client, a mother of two, was an "occasional driver", having obtained her driving licence four years ago.
He said she does not intend to drive again.
Norizah could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined for causing death through a negligent act.
A woman who ran over and killed a motorcyclist after failing to check her blind spot while changing lanes was fined $7,000 on Tuesday, Aug 26, 2014.
"We don't know what the future holds for us, but we still have to try to be as careful as we can, if only... to minimize the possibility of an accident."
ISTANBUL, Turkey – A bus driver lost control and hit a parked taxi and several other people in Istanbul. The entire incident was captured on surveillance video. At least 13 people were injured and two were in critical condition. It was not yet clear what caused the bus driver to lose control.
Understanding 'Motion Induced Blindness' ~ Your best 'Defense Against Accidents on the Roads'.
Someone just sent me this via email. Most of the time info sent needs verification... but this time... it seems believable to me. Very useful in developing your 'Defense Against Accidents on the Roads'.
Read for yourselves...
===. First the picture:
Fix your eyes on the blinking green dot in the middle. Did you notice that while doing this that the 3 yellow dots will blink? Well, actually... they're always there and NOT blinking. If you stare each yellow dot on it's own, it will NOT blink.
Ok... now go on and read the email below that was sent to me.
===. This is what was in the email:
---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 11:43 AM Subject: Motion Induced Blindness -MUST READ
This info is only for Careful Road Users... must read and remember.
Motion Induced Blindness
In a motor accident, wherein a speeding car hits a slower moving vehicle coming from the side, the speeding car drivers often swear that they just didn’t see the vehicle coming from the left or right.
Well, they aren’t lying. They really don’t see the vehicle coming from the side, in spite... of broad daylight. This phenomenon on the car drivers’ part is known as “Motion Induced Blindness”. It is unbelievable but it is true, and it is definitely frightening. Armed forces pilots are taught about motion induced blindness during training, because it happens faster at high speeds; and to some extent it is applicable to car drivers also, especially the fast ones. So, if you drive a car, please read this carefully.
Once airborne, pilots are taught to alternate their gaze between scanning the horizon and scanning their instrument panel, and never to fix their gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object. They are taught to continually keep their heads on a swivel and their eyes always moving. Because, if you fix your gaze on one object long enough while you yourself are in motion, your peripheral vision goes blind. That’s why it is called motion induced blindness. For fighter pilots, this is the only way to survive in air; not only during aerial combat, but from peacetime hazards like mid-air collisions as well.
Till about three decades ago, this “heads on swivel & eyes moving” technique was the only way to spot other aircraft in the skies around.
Now-a-days they have on-board radars, but the old technique still holds good. Let me give you a small demonstration of motion induced blindness. This is the same demonstration that is used for trainee pilots in classrooms before they even go near an aircraft. Just click on either of the links below. You will see a revolving array of blue crosses on a black background. There is a flashing green dot in the center and three fixed yellow dots around it. If you fix your gaze on the green dot for more than a few seconds, the yellow dots will disappear at random…, either singly, or in pairs, or all three together. In reality, the yellow dots are always there. Just watch the yellow dots for some time to ensure that they don’t go anywhere! Link 1: GIF Link ~ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/MotionBlindnessf.gif
(You can alter the background color or the rpm of the array by clicking the appropriate buttons.
So, if you are driving at a high speed on a highway and if you fix your gaze on the road straight ahead, you will not see a car, a scooter, a buggy, a bicycle, a buffalo or even a human being approaching from the side. Now reverse the picture. If you are crossing a road on foot and you see a speeding car approaching…, there’s a 90% chance that the driver isn’t seeing you, because his/her peripheral vision may be blind! And you may be in that blind zone
===. After this email... if you need more info... you can go here...
Local entertainer Victor Khoo sums it up: "It seems that the only positive thing that has come out of the horrific Ferrari accident is noticing that over the last couple of days, when red lights turn green, drivers don't just drive off but, wait a couple of seconds, look left and right before doing so. If this is the sign that drivers are now driving more defensively on the roads, then the sad deaths of the taxi driver and his passenger would not have been totally in vain."
# The senseless anti-foreigner sentiments.
This accident has nothing to do with race or nationality. It is just one senseless driver in a fast car causing a senseless accident.
As anti-foreigner sentiment burns online against "the China man who killed a Singaporean cabby with his speeding Ferrari", it's almost scary to read the violence in the words used and the depth of anger directed against "the rich outsiders".
But not all share the same sentiments.
Heartlanders we spoke to say Singaporeans can be just as reckless on the road.
Local entertainer Victor Khoo sums it up: "It seems that the only positive thing that has come out of the horrific Ferrari accident is noticing that over the last couple of days, when red lights turn green, drivers don't just drive off but, wait a couple of seconds, look left and right before doing so. If this is the sign that drivers are now driving more defensively on the roads, then the sad deaths of the taxi driver and his passenger would not have been totally in vain."
THE taxi driver involved in a horrific accident with a Ferrari sports car has died, bringing the number of people killed in the incident to three.
Mr Cheng Teck Hock, 52, had reportedly suffered head injuries after his ComfortDelGro taxi was reportedly hit by the red sports car at the junction of Rochor Road and Victoria Street at around 4am last Saturday.
He was pronounced brain- dead at Tan Tock Seng Hospital that evening, and my paper understands that he died at around 7pm yesterday.
From video footage provided by an eyewitness to Shin Min Daily News, it is believed that the Ferrari was speeding and had beaten a red light.
Its driver, Mr Ma Chi, 31, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Mr Cheng had remained unconscious since he was admitted to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH). His wife told Lianhe Wanbao that he was suffering from heavy bleeding in his lungs, liver and brain.
The couple have two sons and a daughter, who are between the ages of 16 and 21, the evening daily reported. Mr Cheng's wife said her husband had been driving the late shift for more than 10 years.
The taxi's passenger, a Japanese woman in her 40s, was found unconscious following the crash and subsequently died at Singapore General Hospital. Her next-of-kin has been contacted.
The Ferrari's passenger was a woman from China in her 20s, who suffered serious injuries and a fractured right leg. She was also taken to TTSH.
Friends of Mr Ma whom The Sunday Times spoke to said they do not know who she is.
Reports said that Mr Ma, a financial investor, was from Sichuan, China. He had a wife, 29, and a daughter, three, and moved to Singapore four years ago. The couple are expecting their second child.
A motorcyclist, 25-year-old Muhammad Najib Ghazali, was also involved in the accident. Lianhe Wanbao reported that he was thrown off his bike and suffered spinal injuries. (read about this motorcyclist HERE.)
She was in the wrong place at the wrong time
May 17, 2012 - 1:40am
By: Chai Hung Yin & Amanda Phua
A person in the know has spoken about Ms Wu Wei Wei, the woman who was in the Ferrari that crashed into a taxi on Saturday.
He claimed that Ms Wu had been at a party to celebrate the completion of her degree course in hospitality management at the East Asia Institute of Management (EASB) when she bumped into the Ferrari driver, Mr Ma Chi.
It was then about 4am and she was about to go home. Mr Ma, 31, offered her a lift home.
The person claimed that Ms Wu, who is in her 20s, did not know why Mr Ma had accelerated suddenly. He said: "She happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time."
He also claimed that she is definitely not working as a hostess here.
Mother's Day has just passed (yesterday, Sunday, 2012 May 14) and these words in the last 2 paragraphs of the article below brought tears to my eyes...
"Muhammad Najib told his mother of his intention to give up riding after spending a quiet Mothers' Day with a "picnic" of home-cooked food in the hospital room on Sunday. ~ "It [the accident] happened just before Mothers' day, and I imagined for a moment there what if something worse had happened to me? It would be the worst Mothers' day present a mother can get," he said.
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News ~ Muhammad Najib told his mother of his intention to give up riding
'The taxi went flying through the air'
By Chua Yini | Yahoo! Newsroom – 21 hours ago
UPDATED (2012, 15 May, 9.15am, to include details of deceased taxi passenger)
The last thing Muhammad Najib Ghazali saw before he was sent flying from his motorbike was the dislodged tyre of a taxi coming straight at him.
Moments later, he was flung off from his bike and hit the tarmac hard, dislocating his right arm, fracturing his rib and hurting his spine.
Najib, still warded in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, is one of two survivors from the high-speed accident involving a Ferrari in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The fatal accident at the intersection of Rochor Road and Victoria Street has already claimed three lives – the Ferrari driver was killed on the spot while the taxi driver and his passenger both later died in hospital.
The taxi passenger has been identified as Shigemi Ito, a Japanese woman in her 20s who is believed to be living and working in Singapore, the Straits Times reported.
A young woman reportedly from China was with Ma in the Ferrari during the crash and she suffered head injuries and fractured her right leg.
"It was horrifying to see the tyre [of the taxi] right before my eyes, and after that I saw the taxi flip," said the 26-year-old former dispatch rider.
Clad in a blue hospital gown and surrounded by his family in a ward at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Najib recounted the horrific events on the night itself.
Wearing a tired smile throughout the whole interview, he told Yahoo! Singapore, "The Ferrari beat the red light and smashed into the taxi, and the taxi smashed into my bike. I did not see the smash. I only heard it because I was making a right turn. The moment I turned my head to look, I saw the tyre of the taxi coming towards me."
Sporting a snaking long scar down his right forearm, Najib said the taxi went "airborne" seconds before it landed 50 metres away from where it was hit by the Ferrari.
The aftermath of the accident was a "smoky mess".
"From there I totally couldn't see anything because there was so much smoke and the debris was just starting to settle together with the petrol. It was raining fuel," he said.
Najib counts his lucky stars to have escaped his fourth major accident and "uncountable" minor ones. The avid motorcyclist, who started riding since he was 19-years-old, sees his most recent close shave with death as a sign to finally stop riding.
"This is the fourth time I cheated death. Usually people say strike three, you're out. [In the accident] I am the most unprotected one but I survived, so I don't want to take the risk anymore. I want to just live to the fullest now," he said.
Muhammad Najib told his mother of his intention to give up riding after spending a quiet Mothers' Day with a "picnic" of home-cooked food in the hospital room on Sunday.
"It [the accident] happened just before Mothers' day, and I imagined for a moment there what if something worse had happened to me? It would be the worst Mothers' day present a mother can get," he said.
In Singapore, it is commonly known as 'Speed Regulating Strips'... but on the internet it is more commonly known as 'Rumble Strips'. Here's what it actually does.
Speed regulating strips reduced number of accidents due to speeding
We refer to Mr Luo Wei Guang's letter "Suggestion to Improve Road Conditions at Two Roads" (Lianhe Zaobao, 25 Nov). Mr Luo has suggested to replace the speed strips along South Buona Vista Road with humps and to improve the traffic signs at the side-road leading to the former Capitol Building.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) adopts various road safety measures, such as speed regulating strips, speed humps and traffic calming markings, to discourage speeding along different types of roads. Road safety measures are carefully selected based on the existing traffic conditions as well as the road geometry. Speed regulating strips is a common road safety device used in many countries to moderate drivers speeds, and they are unlikely to cause damages to vehicles, especially if the vehicles do not drive through the strips at high speeds.
In the case of South Buona Vista Road, the speed regulating strips have been effective in improving road safety. Since the implementation of these strips, we have seen fewer speed-related accidents along South Buona Vista Road.
For the side-road leading to Capitol Building, the traffic lanes are configured in such a way that vehicles entering and exiting the side road will not conflict with each other. We noted Mr Luo's feedback on the directional signs. We will review the traffic signs and add more signs if necessary.
Rumble strips, also known as sleeper lines, are a road safety feature that alert inattentive drivers to potential danger by causing a tactile vibration and audible rumbling, transmitted through the wheels into the car body. A rumble strip is usually either applied in the direction of travel along an edge- or centreline, to alert drivers when they drift from their lane, or in a series across the direction of travel, to warn drivers of a stop ahead or nearby danger spot. In favourable circumstances, rumble strips are effective (and cost-effective) at reducing accidents due to inattention. The effectiveness of shoulder rumble strips is largely dependent on a wide stable shoulder for a recovery. "...although in the present study rumble strips did not produce the desired speed reduction effect, its use for work zone applications is still highly encouraged; though, not as a speed control measure but as a driver's attention-catching device."
We don't have this in Singapore but it's good to know what conditions are like elsewhere so we'll be prepared should we have to drive (or 'NOT drive') under these conditions. It's just... accidents... waiting to happen. . They say that it is good to learn from your mistakes; But it's much better to learn from other people's mistakes. . So... watch and learn! .
~~~ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhZCyQ3emQg
by shanrick37 Cars sliding down John St on Capitol Hill during 11/22/10 winter storm!
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However, if you need to drive on ice... search on Google and read HERE.
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A good reminder for us to be careful. Even if the pedestrian is at fault, we will have to take the responsibility for the accident, not to mention the bad feeling we'll have for having killed someone.
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~~~ TODAY Newspaper
Wednesday August 18, 2010
Page 10
Driver who killed girl in accident ruled negligent
Salesman had exceeded speed limit
NG JING YNG
SINGAPORE — She would have turned six next month. But on a clear night last December, she was killed by a car driven by a salesman who had been speeding in his illegally modified vehicle. Zhao Linqian, five, was on her way to piano lessons at Punggol Plaza at 8.20pm with her grandfather when they were about to cross the two-lane road towards Punggol Way. She was wearing a pink ballet dress and was 1.02m tall. Just then, car salesman Tijan Syafiq Selamat, 27, was travelling towards them at between 71km/h and 85km/h. The speed limit for that stretch of road was 50km/h. Linqian was holding on to her grandfather when she suddenly let go and walked across the road first. Mr Tijan couldn't react in time and slammed into the girl who was flung 44m across the road. She suffered serious head injuries and died minutes later. Yesterday, State Coroner Kessler Soh ruled the traffic accident was caused by the negligent driver. Mr Soh said that, due to the speed of Mr Tijan’s car, “it significantly reduced reaction time for him”. He noted the car had no mechanical defects although it had been illegally modified. Mr Soh added the driver was negligent to travel at such a high speed along a road near a bus stop. Linqian’s father, Mr Zhao Peiyong, was in tears after the hearing and told reporters he would consult the investigating officer on what to do next. The 32-year-old engineer said that he would usually fetch Linqian to classes but could not make it that night. “My wife still cries every night,” said Mr Zhao, whose other child is a three-year-old boy.
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