1,100 accidents happened at traffic junctions in the
first half of 2009
SINGAPORE: Some 1,100 accidents happened at traffic
junctions in the first half of this year.
In his written answer to a parliament question by North
West District Mayor Teo Ho Pin, Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng
said that 159 or 14 per cent of the accidents occurred because
motorists beat the red light.
During the same period, the Traffic Police issued about 6,600
summonses to motorists who beat the red light.
Between 2004 and 2008, about 2,100 accidents happened at traffic
junctions every year, with 19,700 summonses issued annually to
motorists who disobeyed the red light signal.
Dr Teo also asked if the Home Affairs Ministry will consider
installing countdown timers at traffic light junctions for
motorists.
In his reply, Mr Wong said that a trial on this was conducted in
2003. It showed that the behaviour of motorists approaching the
junction varied when the countdown timer was about to reach
zero.
Some motorists applied the brakes to stop, while others accelerated
in an unsafe manner to beat the light, which increases the
likelihood of rear-end collisions.
Mr Wong cited studies conducted in Hong Kong, Australia and China
to confirm that motorists behave differently towards countdown
timers and there is no significant improvement to road
safety.
- CNA/vm
