PUBLISHED ONMay 07, 2024 6:43 AMByClaudia TanThe junction of Tampines Ave 1 and Tampines Ave 4 where the six-vehicle crash occurred was designed with international safety standards in mind, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor in Parliament on Tuesday (May 7).
Khor was addressing a Parliamentary question from Sembawang MP Poh Li San about how the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will improve the traffic safety provisions at this junction where the accident occurred on April 22.
The crash took the lives of a 17-year-old student, who was a passenger in one of the cars, and a 57-year-old woman, who was in the van.
The driver has since been charged and is out on $30k bail and electronically tagged.
In Parliament, Khor explained there is sufficient line of sight for road users to see each other clearly at that Tampines junction, and there are appropriate road kerbs, lane and arrow markings installed conspicuously.
The LTA also continually reviews and develops programmes to enhance road safety, she said.
For example, the transport authority has progressively implemented Red-Amber-Green (RAG) arrows to replace discretionary right turns at over 1,200 traffic junctions since 2018.
"Junctions with RAG arrows have shown a 40 per cent reduction in traffic accidents. The work is on-going, and will extend to more traffic junctions," she said.
In addition, LTA has also implemented 371 School Zones and 40 Silver Zones as of 2023, in areas near schools and where there are higher proportions of senior residents, said Khor.
School Zones have designated crossing facilities, coloured pavements as well as traffic signs and markings, while Silver Zones come with reduced speed limits, additional crossings and speed jumps.
The latter has helped to reduce the accident rate among senior pedestrians by 80 per cent, said Khor.
Similarly in response to other parliamentary questions about road safety, Minister of State for Home Affairs and National Development Faishal Ibrahim said that Singapore's roads have become safer in the last five years.
He shared with the House that the number of accidents resulting in injuries or fatalities has fallen by about 10 per cent, from 7,822 in 2019 to 7,025 in 2023.
However, the number of accidents leading to fatalities has increased by about 12 per cent in the last five years.
The top causes of fatal accidents between 2019 and 2023 were due to a failure to keep a proper lookout, and the failure to have proper control of one's vehicle, he said.
In response to a Parliamentary question from Nee Soon MP Derrick Goh regarding the imposition of stiffer penalties on risky driving conduct, Faishal said that penalties under the Road Traffic Act (RTA) currently are adequate to deter dangerous driving, and will not be increased for now.
These penalties were raised "significantly" in 2019, he added.
Under the Act, for an offence of dangerous driving causing death, a first-time offender could face imprisonment of two to eight years.
A repeat offender will be liable for up to 15 years in prison. In addition, an offender could also face a minimum of 10 years' disqualification from driving - which begins after he or she is released.
"What the laws provide today are already quite stiff. We do periodically review different aspects of the framework. In this context, we have been studying the adequacy of composition amounts and the demerit points framework," said Faishal.
The 42-year-old driver involved in the Tampines crash, Muhammad Syafie Ismail was charged with four offences on April 25.
He faces one count each of dangerous driving causing death, dangerous driving causing hurt, dangerous driving, and failing to stop after an accident.
His pre-trial conference has been set for June 7.
claudiatan@asiaone.com
