Carpark gantry service providers for Housing Board carparks will at times use cable ties to secure the barriers at some gantries, to avoid disrupting the parking system being used.
HDB clarified this after a report highlighted the use of cable ties on gantry barriers, with questions raised if this practice was safe.
It told The Straits Times on Tuesday that the Electronic Parking System (EPS) gantry barrier is “designed to be detachable upon being hit”, to minimise damage to both the vehicle and the EPS system.
“Where the impact to the gantry barriers is minor, such as when vehicles bump lightly into them, they may become slightly dislodged,” said an HDB spokesman.
“To reinforce these barriers and prevent them from falling off, the service provider may sometimes choose to use cable ties to secure them so that the EPS operation will not be disrupted.”
The issue of cable ties was first raised by Mr Tan Tee Seng in a special features column in Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News earlier this month.
He said he had seen cable ties being used to secure the barriers.
“I saw bolts loosening and a barrier fall to the ground. It was put back and fixed with just cable ties,” he added.
Mr Tan claimed that this happened repeatedly, with more cable ties being added each time the barrier came loose.
In response to the article, readers who noticed cable ties being used at the gantries near their homes wrote in to ask if the practice was safe.
Shin Min reported that cable ties were seen at gantries in areas including Bishan and Choa Chu Kang.
HDB first implemented the EPS in HDB carparks in 2004.
To date, some 1,500 out of the 2,000 existing HDB carparks have the system.
HDB also reminded motorists to “slow down when approaching the EPS barrier and to keep an adequate, safe distance from the vehicle in front” for the safety of all carpark users.
lydialam@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on Jan 26, 2017.
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