ICA to conduct safety review after Woodlands Checkpoint accident

The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Saturday (May 24) that it will be conducting a review of safety measures following an accident at Woodlands Checkpoint earlier in the morning.

The accident occurred at about 5.28am when a departing Singapore-registered car collided with an arriving Malaysia-registered bus along the Causeway.

ICA said that preliminary investigations found that the contraflow operation was activated before barriers were put in place, which was not in accordance with safety procedures.

"This accident should not have happened. ICA is treating it very seriously, and we are assisting the traffic police who are investigating the accident," it added.

After the accident, ICA officers immediately rendered help and managed the traffic situation and alerted the Singapore Civil Defence Force and police.

The police told AsiaOne that the car driver, a 48-year-old man, and his three passengers aged between 14 and 78 were taken to hospital. Investigations are ongoing.

ICA said that there were no reported injuries among the bus passengers, while the bus driver declined medical assistance.

The agency said that it has been conducting contraflow traffic management operations at the Singapore side of the Causeway to ease traffic congestion during peak timings.

This includes converting the departure lane for heavy vehicles at the Causeway into an arrival lane, to expedite the arrival of heavy vehicles which might be blocking traffic there.

"During this time, should the departing car traffic surge, part of the departure cargo zone may be converted to clear cars departing Woodlands Checkpoint, to minimise the tailback of traffic along the BKE (Bukit Timah Expressway)," ICA said.

ICA said that as part of safety measures, barriers would be set up to divert departing car traffic away from the contraflow lane, which is when arriving heavy vehicles use the departure lane for heavy vehicles.

"However, in this accident, preliminary investigations found that the contra-flow operation was activated before barriers were put in place, which was not in accordance with our safety procedures," it added.

ICA said that it implemented a safety pause by suspending contraflow operations at both land checkpoints in Woodlands and Tuas over the weekend.

"We will comprehensively review our safety measures before restarting the contraflow operations. Motorists can expect some delays in the interim and we apologise for any inconvenience," ICA added.

chingshijie@asiaone.com

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