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THE young do it, those with kids in tow do it, and even the elderly do it, sometimes tragically. They are the legions of jaywalkers.
Take housewife Mrs L.H. Lee, 28. With one hand gripping her five-year-old son and the other holding a pram with her 11-month-old baby in it, she dashed across busy Serangoon Road on Thursday.
It was lunch hour in Little India, and the four-lane traffic was chock-a-block. She was aware that a 'green man' traffic light is only 30m away.
But she insisted: 'It's not dangerous, you just have to run at the right time and be fast. I'm not worried.'
Just as blase was Syed Hussain, 35, from India. The shop assistant does not use the 'green man' crossing on his way to work in Campbell Lane.
'Everyone jaywalks here and as long as I look carefully, nothing will happen,' he said.
The likes of Mrs Lee and Mr Hussain have become a common sight across Singapore.
Of the 30 jaywalkers The Sunday Times spoke to, most insisted that it was safe to dash across, as long as they were 'careful'. Eight were unaware jaywalking is an offence.
But jaywalkers can be fined $20 on the spot by the Traffic Police. If charged and convicted in court, their fine can go up to $1,000 and they risk a jail term of up to three months too.
In a worrying trend, the number of jaywalkers fined has gone up from 4,030 in 2004 to 7,398 last year.
Even more troubling is the high number of the elderly when it comes to the grim statistics.
A total of 28 jaywalkers were killed last year, up from 22 in 2005 and also 22 in 2006.
The Traffic Police attributed the increase to the number of elderly jaywalkers killed. Last year, 14 people aged above 60 were killed, almost double the nine cases in 2006.
Up to 1,000 summonses were issued last year by the Traffic Police at three hot spots alone: North Bridge Road, Tampines Central and Jalan Eunos.
Read the full report in The Sunday Times.
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