A motorist set a great example for his child sitting in the back of his car when he stayed put at a traffic junction to let a frail elderly man cross the street at his own pace.
In fact, he would have gone out of his car himself to help the old man cross the road if he didn’t have his 4-year-old toddler as his passenger.
The incident took place at the T junction between Lorong 1 Toa Payoh and Lorong 1A Toa Payoh in the morning of Aug 4, in which the kind driver, Kok Hwa Siang, got honked at by other motorists for holding up traffic when the lights turned green. What they weren’t aware, however, was the fact that an elderly man — who could only trudge slowly with a walking frame — needed time to cross the road.
“He looked at me and thought I would drive past him — but I held my ground in my car (at the risk of holding up traffic behind), and waved for him to continue crossing the road,” wrote Kok in his submission to the Beh Chia Lor Facebook page.
“He waved at me in appreciation and continued to cross the road,” he noted, adding that vehicles behind him started to display their impatience by sounding off their horns at him.
What’s even sadder is the fact that many other pedestrians can be seen doing nothing to help the old man cross the road safely, before one passerby eventually did.
“I sincerely hope that drivers can exhibit a lot more patience and understanding towards pedestrians who have difficulty in crossing the road, and also understand that car horns are used for preventing accidents, not to vent their frustrations,” Kok noted.
Though Kok did nothing wrong and his actions should be lauded, perhaps he could have made his intent clearer by switching on his hazard lights, as one commenter suggested. Something to note for other motorists who want to do the same.
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