IF you experienced a safer ride on a road or at a junction known
for its accident-prone history, it probably did not come by
chance.
It could due to the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) Black Spot
programme, in which 68 such locations were identified and made
safer, cutting down drastically the number of accidents in these
areas.
The authority did this by installing red light camera, changing
traffic light timings and resurfacing roads to slow down
vehicles.
At the junction of Upper Serangoon Road/Upper Paya Lebar
Road/Boundary Road, for example, the installation of
Red-Amber-Green (RAG) arrows to control right turns has reduced the
number of accidents from 15 to three over a year.
Further north at the Seletar Expressway/Bukit Timah Expressway
interchange, the road has been resurfaced, speed regulating strips
lengthened and lanes narrowed. Over five months, the number of
accidents has fallen from seven to zero.
In all, 33 expressways, 32 road junctions and three expressway
interchanges have been improved under this Black Spot programme
since it began in 2005.
According to the LTA, these locations were identified for road
safety engineering enhancements after recording over 15 accidents
over the past three years.
After accident patterns are mapped out, engineers begin a site
investigation to relate the accident data to details such as road
geometry and the surrounding land use to determine ways to improve
the site.
The solutions vary in costs between $500 for installing better
visual signs, to $100,000 for measures such as road
resurfacing.
While motorists Today spoke to felt that the roads here are
generally safe, some suggested further improvements.
Accounts manager Simon Wong said the introduction of various bus
lanes schemes has resulted in not just extra rules for motorists to
follow, but also extra signs and different coloured road markings
to look out for. "It can be very distracting," he said.
Teacher Eugene Ng said traffic lights here could be installed with
displays that would indicate the time left before the traffic light
changes. This would help drivers like himself to slow down, he
said.
Last year, there were 7,499 road traffic accidents in Singapore
10,000 people were injured and 190 people were killed. This
translates to a fatal traffic accident every two days.