Road Rules: Yellow Boxes
Posted: Fri, 29 Feb 2008 10:54 am
I discovered the hard way yesterday that yellow boxes mean nothing here. Even in congested stationary traffic, you can be fined and have demerit points against your licence if you hit someone while turning across it. Yesterday a Malaysian motorcyclist came out from between two lanes of stationary traffic to cross the yellow box while I was on it. He's fine as I was going so slow.
The 9 demerit points and $200 fine I incurred for being as careful as I could driving into Clementi Crescent from Clementi Road at peak hour morning time is my reward for a motorcyclist's inattention to the traffic conditions. I'm charged with "inconsiderate driving" - that's the law.
I also learned at the police station that it is not illegal for motorbikes to weave in and out of traffic. So I had to ask the investigative officer the obvious: is there a different set of rules for vehicles and another for motorbikes? "No," he said. So why didn't he have to stop at the yellow box like all the other traffic? "Because he's small and can weave between the cars..." he replied. "So long as he doesn't touch the cars, he is free to move between them..." He also said that we hope that they look at the traffic conditions for their own safety.
And if they don't, then the fault is not their own!
So can anyone tell me what the point is of a yellow box on the road if it's there for some and not for others? Sounds like anyone can shoot through between cars (if you're small enough) and risk life and limb, and it will never be their problem. Aside from their physical vulnerability, what's to stop them from driving with complete disregard to any other road user?
The 9 demerit points and $200 fine I incurred for being as careful as I could driving into Clementi Crescent from Clementi Road at peak hour morning time is my reward for a motorcyclist's inattention to the traffic conditions. I'm charged with "inconsiderate driving" - that's the law.
I also learned at the police station that it is not illegal for motorbikes to weave in and out of traffic. So I had to ask the investigative officer the obvious: is there a different set of rules for vehicles and another for motorbikes? "No," he said. So why didn't he have to stop at the yellow box like all the other traffic? "Because he's small and can weave between the cars..." he replied. "So long as he doesn't touch the cars, he is free to move between them..." He also said that we hope that they look at the traffic conditions for their own safety.
And if they don't, then the fault is not their own!
So can anyone tell me what the point is of a yellow box on the road if it's there for some and not for others? Sounds like anyone can shoot through between cars (if you're small enough) and risk life and limb, and it will never be their problem. Aside from their physical vulnerability, what's to stop them from driving with complete disregard to any other road user?
