PUBLISHED ONApril 10, 2026 9:20 AMBYSean LerFor some months now, TikTok users have jumped onto a trend in which they would stop and bow in front of cars at pedestrian crossings, mimicking the Japanese culture where schoolchildren would do so to signal gratitude and respect.
Though no longer a fresh trend, seeing an earnest schoolgirl do so while flashing a wide smile still drew praises from social media users.
It happened at about 7.20am on Wednesday (April 8) along Mount Vernon Road.
Dashcam footage of the encounter posted on Reddit shows a Bartley Secondary School student looking towards the car and smiling broadly as she walked along the zebra crossing.
At the halfway mark, she is seen stopping, bowing and waving at the car with a wide smile.
While some Reddit users pointed out that she was simply doing the "Bringing Japanese culture to Singapore" trend, others still welcomed the positivity.
Others wondered if she was doing the "bringing Japanese culture to Singapore" trend from TikTok. #sgnews #singapore #zebracrossing #pedestrians #car
But several users also commented on how the car driver continued to drive forward, albeit slowly, while approaching the crossing.
"How many milliseconds are you trying to save?" one user asked.
In 2025, there were 147 traffic accidents resulting in 149 deaths compared with 139 such cases and 142 fatalities in 2024.
The activation of the speed enforcement function in more red-light cameras has been expanded islandwide, alongside the operationalisation of the mobile Traffic Violation Enforcement Cameras from April 1.
In a written parliamentary reply to MP Louis Chua (Sengkang GRC) on Feb 25, Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam said further measures to enhance road safety are being considered by the Ministry of Home Affairs and traffic police, adding that they will be announced when ready.
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