There's been a public outcry on the recent clampdown on speeding motorists by traffic police. Tired of being called "sneaky" and tired of all the hue & cry in The Straits Times forum pages, the traffic police decided to ease up on the surprise elements of their checks by listing on their website the roads where officers, armed with laser speed cameras, will be deploy.

heh heh.. I can imagine the replies to appeal letters.. "We regret to inform you that our department is unable to consider your appeal. You have been forewarned and it is your responsibility to take the necessary action(s) to prevent such occurrences...."

But I really don't understand what's the rationale for yielding. If the purpose of the speed traps is to catch the speedsters, then listing the roads will only alert them. If the purpose is to slow the traffic down at those stretches where speeding is highly dangerous, then why not put permanent speed cameras. The police officers could be better deployed on other works. Personally I think it's even more dangerous to have officers hanging around. Inexperience drives may over-react upon seeing officers. What if one brakes suddenly and causes a chain-bumper-to-bumper collisions?

Actually, I have no complaint against the clampdown. All I ask is for reasonable speed limits to be set according to the general traffic conditions and locations of the roads. I was told that speed limits for roads, by default, is 50kph. 50kph is way too low for most roads. Of course for some areas such as small lanes in residential zones, carparks, anything more than 30kph will be too high. And I wish they would increase the speed limit of 80kph on expressways too. 90~100 kph will be about right.

The traffic police "will consider reviewing the speed limits of roads which motorists say are 'too slow' on a monthly, instead of quarterly, basis." I hope they do more than considering. Imagine being caught for speeding when I'm travelling 55kph!