from ST-- Drivers to be warned: Speed trap ahead

FireIce SG

THE traffic police, who have been slammed for being 'sneaky' and 'grossly unfair' in their recent clampdown on speeding motorists, yesterday sprang a surprise.

After receiving a barrage of feedback and some stinging brickbats in The Straits Times Forum pages, they agreed to ease up on the surprise element of their checks by listing on their website (www.spf.gov.sg) the roads where officers, armed with laser speed cameras, will be deployed.

Warning signs may also be put up on the roads to alert motorists ahead of speed traps.

In addition, officers will wear white uniforms during the day and don vests with yellow reflectors at night, to make them more visible on the roads.

Another concession: the police, together with the Land Transport Authority will consider reviewing the speed limits of roads which motorists say are 'too slow' on a monthly, instead of quarterly, basis.

The current quarterly review, to be completed by April 1, of more than 40 roads includes Upper Bukit Timah Road, Upper Serangoon Road, Thomsom Road and Tampines Avenue 10 - all stretches frequently cited by motorists as having too low a speed limit.

Said Traffic Police Commander Ng Guat Ting: 'We recognise the sentiments of the motoring public that speed enforcement can only be seen as reasonable if the speed limits are deemed reasonable by the motoring public too.'

But she made clear that while the traffic police will take a more open and transparent approach in enforcement and consider motorists' suggestions, overall road safety will not be compromised.

The Traffic Police also stood their ground on the accuracy of the laser speed cameras and the effectiveness of their speed traps.

Whether the officer is standing by the road or on an overhead bridge, the camera accurately captures images of speeding vehicles and clocks the speed in split-second intervals which are then scrutinised to make sure that an offence has been committed.

'The photographs and readings are clear and accurate enough to be tendered as evidence in court,' added Commander Ng.

Its use has already saved lives, she maintained. Since the cameras came into use in June last year, the number of fatalities caused by speeding has dropped, from 65 cases in 2003 to 52 last year.

In January this year, there were no accidents resulting in serious injury, compared with five in the same month last year, before the cameras came into use.

Commander Ng also said there was nothing random in the way officers decided where to deploy teams with the laser speed cameras. Accident-prone areas, school zones, and stretches of road frequently cited in complaints about excessive speeding, top the list.

Speeding remains a major problem on local roads, she added.

In 2003, 48,930 summonses were issued. Last year's tally, which will be out in March, will be 'significantly higher' because of stepped up enforcement and the accuracy of the new laser speed cameras.

Drivers are often a lot more than marginally over the limit too.

For two hours earlier this month, the traffic police clocked the speed of 800 vehicles along Upper Bukit Timah Road, which has a 50kmh limit. They found that 30 per cent of vehicles zoomed by at 80kmh and 10 per cent went above 90kmh. The highest speed clocked: 141kmh by a motorbike, and 124kmh by a car.

Director of police public affairs, Senior Assistant Commissioner Tan Puay Kern said: 'If we really want to catch people and hit quotas, we don't have to put up warning signs. People forget that our job is to save lives.'

ronnie_2600 SG

Director of police public affairs, Senior Assistant Commissioner Tan Puay Kern said: 'If we really want to catch people and hit quotas, we don't have to put up warning signs. People forget that our job is to save lives.'

hypocritic piece of sh1t.

now den put up warning signs to 'show' not fufilling quota den last time is what trial runs ar? na behz.

TehJarVu SG

in Oz, everyday in the news on TV, they will tell you which roads there will be speed checks the next day. Laughing

FireIce SG

do u make it a point to check the websai everytime u wanna go out?

ronnie_2600 SG

actually got some forums that list out the hotspots weekly.. haha. dunno is frm informer Razz

DoggieHowser SG

So I just went to spf.gov.sg

Where's the link to the daily list of speed camera locations?

Kaczynski SG

http://www.spf.gov.sg/about_spf/tp/pslc.htm

But they also had a pop-up which said

"Notice to all SPF Internet surfers

Due to the increased of network traffic volume, you may be experiencing slow downloading time of webpages.

We apologize for any inconvenience caused..."

And from what i see, the list is very abigious...

e.g.
8 CTE

9 ECP

SBS9611D SG

Is the penalty for speeding 30km/h above the limit harsher than that for 10km/h? I believe many were slightly over the limit without realising it.

wcafe SG

Its use has already saved lives, she maintained. Since the cameras came into use in June last year, the number of fatalities caused by speeding has dropped, from 65 cases in 2003 to 52 last year.

In January this year, there were no accidents resulting in serious injury, compared with five in the same month last year, before the cameras came into use.

<<< What kind of statistics are these? Without questioning how they define maojr accidents by speeding but just using statistics from 2 concurrent years with a slight fluctuation and they boast that the cameras are effective? What kind of logic is that?

Speeding remains a major problem on local roads, she added.

In 2003, 48,930 summonses were issued. Last year's tally, which will be out in March, will be 'significantly higher' because of stepped up enforcement and the accuracy of the new laser speed cameras.

<<< What's there to boast about that? That their sneakiness has paid off in earning more revenue? Public opinion of the TP deparment is definitely at an all time low.

How about tackling the problem of TP speedsters who do not have thier sirens on but are racing through the expressways and roads as "they are the law"?? Many times I've seen police cars driving recklessly on when they're not even chasing any speeding cars. Why don't they discipline themselves before trying to enforce discipline on the general public?

How about catching road hoggers such as lorrys and trucks that hog the centre lanes of big roads and expressways? Causing massive jams at peak hours? Isn't that of a bigger concern? Lets just say this is just selective law enforcement on the roads... Target the most lucarative summonses and ignore the rest... Well done huh.

Bloop... SG

That's what I've been saying all along Rolling Eyes Selective enforcement. It's easy to catch "speedsters"... You can say it's black and white, the if 60 = good then > 60 = bad.

Ask them to enforce something like road-hogging which requires more brain power on their part, and the entire Singapore traffic law enforcement machine falls apart.