only if its serious and
life threatening then report, else why waste
effort
With more motorists installing surveillance cameras in their
vehicles, some have taken to playing traffic vigilantes when they
capture footage of others breaking the rules.
"It's like a neighbourhood watch group, except it's on the road,"
said Mr Jonathan Thong, 45, who has submitted 12 such videos to the
Traffic Police in the past year.
The project manager and father of two believes he is helping to
promote road safety. If errant drivers know their behaviour might
be recorded and reported to the authorities, they may be encouraged
to be more courteous on the road, he said.
The videos he sent to the Traffic Police were taken on different
occasions and included incidents of motorists who made illegal
turns, crossed double white lines and stopped in yellow boxes.
In the first half of this year, there were 171,211 traffic
violations recorded compared with 154,049 in the same period last
year.
Traffic Police statistics show such violations have been rising
since 2010, with 330,909 recorded last year, up from 316,214 in
2011 and 304,472 in 2010.
Traffic Police Commander Cheang Keng Keong told The Sunday Times
his department has been receiving an increasing amount of public
feedback about errant motorists.
These complaints have led to increased enforcement. He
said: "Such efforts by the community in providing feedback on
traffic violations are actually commendable and are
encouraged."
The police were not able to say how many motorists have
been booked as a result of complaints from other
motorists.
Lawyer Chia Boon Teck warned
that vigilantes should not think that it takes only an e-mail for
police to prosecute another road user.
"As the complainant, the
vigilante must testify in court if the 'offender' disputes the
video footage," he explained. "As a witness in court, the
vigilante's identity and particulars will be known to the
'offender'. The vigilante should not think that he can remain
anonymous in this whole process."
Should an alleged offender challenge the authenticity of the
footage, the person who provided it would have to validate it in
court, added Mr Chia.
Mr Derek Teo, executive director of General Insurance Association
of Singapore (GIA), felt that as motorists become aware of the
presence of such recording devices, the in-car cameras could help
promote safe driving.
Most motorists install the devices, which cost between $200 and
$500, mainly to record evidence in the event of an accident, said
Mr Jack Seah, 41, owner of Darren Auto. "Such evidence would come
in useful during squabbles between parties involved in the
accident," said Mr Seah, who sells and installs about 30 such
cameras a month.
To encourage more motorists to install such cameras, the Traffic
Police and the GIA are studying the possibility of a motor
insurance premium discount for those with the devices in their
vehicles.
Mr Pan Jing Long, head of general insurance at Aviva Singapore,
said about one in 50 car insurance claims received by Aviva
Singapore comes with video evidence.
He said: "This is still a relatively small number but it has
actually doubled compared to two years ago."
