Road divider poles must be reflective to avoid accidents

Dear Editor,

I NOTICED the road divider poles that are being used in many major roads in the Sultanate are not light-reflective and they are almost invisible at night especially during heavy rains.

I noticed it on Tuesday night while driving along a major highway. It was raining heavily, and despite being fully attentive, I almost hit a row of the pole dividers as I only managed to notice them from about three metres.

Luckily, there were not many vehicles behind me when I made an emergency stop to avoid the poles.

Then I noticed that there are many such poles at other main roads as well.

This pose a safety risk as drivers who may not have noticed it due to poor visibility will tend to either brake abruptly or swerve their vehicle at the last minute, which of course will inevitably lead to an accident if there are many vehicles behind or beside it.

The authorities should consider doing a check on this and perhaps installing clearly visible road dividers.

Road accidents are a major issue in Brunei. While we are trying to educate road users on road safety , we must also not forget on potential danger posed by bad road conditions, poor lightings and other things such as the road divider poles.

Together we hope to have a safer road to use for the benefit of our loved ones and everyone.

Concerned driver,

Bandar Seri Begawan