On Monday, 27 June 1977, a different group of people converged at the Causeway. This was a bevy of 19 Miss Singapore contestants, and they were distributing road safety stickers and pamphlets to motorists. Donning T-shirts with the words “safe crossing”, the ladies spent the day meaningfully contributing to the road safety campaign. Besides distributing the materials, some of them also explained the implementation of the new Pedestrian Crossing Rules which came into effect four days later, on 1 July 1977.7
The Pedestrian Crossing Rules aimed to curb jaywalking. Statistics on road accidents at the time were alarming: in the three years before the legislation was introduced, around 44 percent of deaths in road accidents were pedestrians. Hence, the Pedestrian Crossing Rules formed part of a larger nationwide Road Safety Campaign that included events like a Road Safety Quiz Competition. The rules stipulated that pedestrians must use a pedestrian crossing to cross the road if they were within 50 m from either side of it, while motorists must yield to pedestrians at pedestrian crossings.
Beyond the Causeway, these ladies also travelled around the island to spread the word about road safety.8
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Photographs
Media - Image No: PCD0452 - 0080
Source: Singapore Press Holdings
Description: Miss Singapore contestants distributing road safety stickers and pamphlets at the Causeway.
Covering Date: 27 June 1977
Media - Image No: PCD0452 - 0079
Source: Singapore Press Holdings
Description: Miss Singapore contestants distributing road safety stickers and pamphlets at the Causeway.
Covering Date: 27 June 1977
Media - Image No: PCD0490 - 0034
Source: Singapore Press Holdings
Description: Miss Singapore contestants travelling around the island to spread the word about road safety.
Covering Date: 18 June 1977
Media - Image No: PCD0490 - 0033
Source: Singapore Press Holdings
Description: Miss Singapore contestants travelling around the island to spread the word about road safety.
Covering Date: 18 June 1977
Media - Image No: PCD0490 - 0040
Source: Singapore Press Holdings
Description: In conjunction with the Road Safety Campaign, two young girls helped 30 children from the Singapore Association for the Blind to cross a road.
Covering Date: 26 June 1977
Speeches and Press Releases
Pedestrian Crossing Rules 1977
Covering Date: 14 May 1977
Source: Ministry of Culture
Document Number: 778-1977-05-14
Road Safety Quiz Competition held on 25 June 1977 in conjunction with the then National Road Safety Campaign
Covering Date: 25 June 1977
Source: Ministry of Culture
Microfilm Number: NAS000483/1