Forum: ​Redesigning roads ​can make it easier to practise safer behaviour

Road safety discussions often focus on personal responsibility. Drivers must remain attentive, and pedestrians must use roads responsibly. But behaviour is shaped not only by education and enforcement, but also by the environment around us.

Silver Zones are a good example. Through lower speeds, traffic-calming measures and safer crossing points, accidents involving elderly pedestrians have fallen by about 80 per cent in completed Silver Zones. The improvement came from redesigning roads so that safer behaviour became the easier choice.

We often think culture shapes our environment, but the reverse is also true. Physical design influences how we act, often without us noticing. A narrower street encourages caution. A raised crossing prompts drivers to slow down. A traffic-calmed neighbourhood encourages patience.

As Singapore continues to expand Silver Zones, Friendly Streets and other safety initiatives, we should recognise that a safer road culture is not built solely by telling people what to do, but also through designing streets that make the right thing easy to do.

Francis Chu