Road Traffic Situation Generally Improved, Likely Due To ‘Circuit Breaker’
It seems we see sad stories of people dying and getting injured in road accidents almost every other day.
That might make you think that the road traffic safety in Singapore has gone down the drain.
However, our road traffic situation has actually improved in the 1st 6 months of 2020, compared with the 1st 6 months of 2019, the Singapore Police Force said.
On Wednesday (19 Aug), the police released a Facebook update on the country’s mid-year road traffic situation.
It said that the number of traffic accidents resulting in death and injury, as well as accidents as a whole, has decreased.
Improvement in road traffic situation
The police cited the dip in accident cases as a basis for saying that Singapore’s overall road traffic situation had improved.
There were 2,565 accidents in the 1st half of 2020 that resulted in death or injury, down 33.1% from the same period in 2019.
The total number of deaths and injuries from accidents was 3,071, also down by 37%.
Photo for illustration purposes only
Source
At the same time, there was a significant drop in the number of accidents caused by the beating of red lights — from 99 in the 1st half of 2019 to 40 in the 1st half of 2020. That’s a 59.6% decrease.
The number of accidents due to speeding also dropped, by 8.1%.
Photo for illustration purposes only
Source
More people caught speeding
While there were fewer accidents due to speeding, that however doesn’t mean that fewer drivers were speeding.
In fact, more people were caught for speeding violations in the 1st half of 2020, with 94,359 of such cases.
That’s a 5.2% rise from the 1st half of 2019, the police said.
Photo for illustration purposes only
Source
There were also 6 accidents caused by drunken drivers that led to deaths, an increase from 4 in the same period of 2019.
Elderly pedestrians & motorcyclists also a concern
Besides, speeding and drink driving, another area of concern flagged by the police was elderly pedestrians.
While the number of accidents, injuries and deaths involving elderly pedestrians has decreased by 40.7%, 40.2% and 52.9% respectively, seniors still continue to get into trouble by jaywalking.
In fact, jaywalking causes 46% of all accidents that involve seniors.
Motorcyclists over-represented in accidents
Motorcyclists are also disproportionately involved in accidents that cause injury and death.
This group of road users, which includes pillion riders as well as, were in involved in 60% of accidents in the 1st half of 2020.
They were also involved in 60% of accident deaths.
However, like most of the rest of the figures, accidents, injuries and deaths involving those on motorcycles dropped by 30.7%, 34.1% and 6.3% respectively.
Drop in accidents likely due to ‘Circuit Breaker’
Don’t rejoice just yet, though.
Police say the drop in the number of accidents and deaths is “likely” due to the ‘Circuit Breaker’ period, reported Channel NewsAsia.
As most people stayed at home during that time, there was less traffic on the roads. Thus, it’s obvious that there would be fewer accidents.
The Traffic Police will work with the Singapore Road Safety Council and other stakeholders to educate the public and encourage road users keep our roads safe.
Here’s a graphic from the police laying out some of the statistics it released:
Do be responsible when using the roads
While we’re glad that the road traffic situation has improved, any injury or death from a traffic accident is one too many.
It’s heartbreaking when lives are needlessly lost due to preventable lapses.
Whether you’re a driver, rider or pedestrian, do be responsible when using the roads.
That means keep a lookout and don’t engage in reckless behaviour.
Featured image adapted from Facebook.
