bus lane infringements

car in bus lane in s'pore (around 5.30 p.m. on a friday)


bus in bus lane in melbourne

many singaporeans like to think that we are a much more disciplined lot than the australians. but my one-month of observations in melbourne seem to suggest the contrary. granted, their roads are not as congested as ours although some can get quite as bad during the morning and evening peak hours. but, in singapore, even when the traffic is not that heavy, i see a number of 'couldn't care less' motorists driving into the bus lane.

could it be due to the fact that their bus lanes are more conspicious - the bus lanes in australia are red, covered with materials like those used for the tartan track at the stadium. over here, our bus lanes are demarcated by thick yellow lines or red lines for the whole-day type.

some drivers in s'pore stray into the lane unknowingly but the majority who do, do so with a sense of impunity because the man with the camera is not around to catch them. if the land transport authorty (lta) pays me $1 for each vehicle (photogaphed) that commits this infringement, i will be able to collect quite a substantial sum each day. in melbourne, i would have difficulty earning $5 a day.

another interesting way of letting the public buses move ahead (in melborne) is the presence of bus queue-jump lanes. i suppose they also have this feature in the other large australian cities, especially sydney. it is just a small space at a signalised intersection ,on the extreme left, dedicated to buses or rather to one bus. before the light changes from red to green, an extra light with the white letter 'b' will appear, a signal for the bus to jump the queue. we, too, have a modification of this feature in s'pore but they do not seem to be working as well as it is in australia.

another warp thinking of some singaporeans is this: they think it is perfectly justifiable to pick someone from a bus-bay, which happens to be located within a bus lane, during the bus-lane operating hours. i see this happening every weekday at the bus-stop near my place.

just yesterday, i saw this small van beat the red light, while making a right turn, and after that, he drove straight into the bus lane. however, his act was noticed by one of these traffic wardens. i watched the going-on between the two; eventually, the 'kind' traffic warden left him off with a verbal warning. imagine blatantly disregarding two traffic rules and getting away with it!

bus lane infringements

with the implementation of bus lane in this part of singapore recently - in october 2008 - i have come to realise that more education is needed to familiarise people with the rules regarding the use of bus lanes. this part of singapore covers bukit panjang road and upper bukit timah road - from old jurong road to woodlands road.

isn't parking in a bus lane during bus-lane hours a more serious offence than straying into a bus lane? the above picture was taken on a saturday but i have observed that on weekdays, during the bus-lane operation hours, there are still lorry drivers and motorists who persist in parking their vehicles at the same place.

i have also seen, during bus lane operation hours, motorists moving into the bus lane just because they would be making a left turn ahead. but the ironic thing is that when other motorists who dutifully wanted to move into the lane, after the broken yellow line, the motorist who was in the bus lane earlier would sound his horn at these law-abiding motorists. seems like if you perpetuate a wrong, in time it becomes a right or better still, it becomes your right.

another infringement which may be committed unwittingly is the dropping of passenger/s at bus bay which is within a bus-lane. the person may see it as a convenience for him and his passenger but he is actually breaking two rules: driving his vehicle in a bus lane during bus lane operation hours and stopping in a bus-day.

the other thing i have noticed is that quite a number of drivers are quite clueless about the bus-lane hours. on weekdays before five o'clock in the afternoon and on saturdays, i see some drivers trying their best to stay out of the normal bus lane where being in the bus lane will have provided them a smoother ride. on sundays, i still come across motorists who are fearful of entering the whole-day bus lane.

the penalty for bus lane infringement is a s$130 fine. no demerit points will be imposed on the driver.