Reponse by Senior Minister of State for Transport Dr Amy Khor to Adjournment Motion on Harnessing Technology for Better Road Safety Outcomes in Singapore

1.     Mr Speaker Sir, I thank the Member for the Adjournment Motion, and sharing his personal experiences and convictions with this House. As road users, I am certain Members in this House would be able to relate to the issues raised. 

2.     Our goal is to have safer roads for all. This is an ongoing journey that requires collective effort from every road user.

3.     The Member has rightly pointed out that technology can be an enabler for improving road safety outcomes in Singapore. Let me assure the Member that this is indeed what the Land Transport Authority has done over the years: 

a.     For heavy vehicles, LTA has mandated blind spot mirrors and allowed the use of camera devices to cover blind spot areas in 2015. The Traffic Police (TP) has also made it mandatory for such vehicles to install speed limiters.

b.     For vehicles, apart from motorcycles, LTA has allowed the use of camera monitor systems in lieu of conventional rear-view mirrors from 2021. 

c.     For public buses, they have progressively been fitted with safety features such as the Driver Anti-Fatigue Systems to monitor the bus captain’s fatigue level, and the Collision Warning Systems to alert the bus captain on impending collisions. In fact, 79% of the public bus fleet are already fitted with the collision warning system.

d.     These measures help make our roads safer. And while the measures target larger vehicles, they also protect other road users such as motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians. 

4.     Technology can only be implemented effectively after careful consideration of other factors such as road design and user behaviour, as well as extensive industry engagement. For each change, many factors have to be assessed, including – motorist readiness to adapt to the new technology, the reliability of the new technology, the cost effectiveness of the technology, as well as the impact on motorist behaviour with the adoption of new technology. These considerations apply to safety technology on all types of vehicles, including motorcycles. 

5.     In the case of motorcycles, advanced braking systems such as Combined Braking System (CBS) and Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) that the Member mentioned in his speech have increasingly been made available on smaller and larger engine capacity motorcycles respectively. LTA is aware of campaigns overseas to mandate ABS for all motorcycles, regardless of engine capacity, and is studying the impact if we were to impose such requirements locally, based on the factors I cited earlier. 

6.     Besides Vehicle Technology, there are three other pillars in our ecosystem to improve road safety, these are – Road Design, User Behaviour, Regulations & Enforcement. 

Road Design

7.     First, at the core of road safety is road design. This is an iterative and ongoing effort by LTA as it regularly reviews traffic accident data to identify areas with higher accident rates. For these identified areas, LTA will conduct detailed investigations to assess the need for additional road safety measures. Where necessary, road improvements such as traffic calming measures and signages, as well as road safety barriers are introduced. 

8.     Beyond that, our road design is inclusive. It takes into account the demographic changes of nearby communities, and incorporates the needs of the residents and stakeholders it serves. Members of this House would likely be familiar with Silver and School Zones, which serve to provide safer roads for our seniors and students in areas where these vulnerable groups are in higher proportion. Apart from implementing traffic calming measures, LTA implements a lower road speed limit of 40km/h or 30km/h in Silver Zones. With these improvements, the number of road accidents involving senior pedestrians has dropped by about 80% in completed Silver Zones. 

9.     We will continue to build on these efforts. At this year’s Committee of Supply debate, I introduced the concept of Friendly Streets and announced that we will be piloting Friendly Streets at five locations. This is an ambitious and meaningful endeavor, as we move from making specific zones safer, to making entire streets more pedestrian friendly. And we are doing so in two ways. First, by changing the road infrastructure with various moves, such as road pinching, more crossings, lower speed limits – to make these roads safer for pedestrians. Second, by bringing in the local community, to give us feedback, and work with us to make these roads more conducive and safer, not just for travel, but also for other daily activities. That is why we call such streets, Friendly Streets – friendly for all who use these streets – drivers, pedestrians, residents alike.  We just started this journey, with pilots to be completed by 2025. Our resolve and end goals are clear – we want safer streets, and safer journeys for all road users. 

User Behaviour

10.    Mr Speaker, Sir, I have covered road design, which is the hardware. But our goal to improve road safety will not be complete without the software, which is road user behaviour. 

11.    To have safer and more gracious roads, we will need to have safer and more gracious behaviour by all road users – which includes motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike. TP works very closely with the Singapore Road Safety Council to continually improve safety on our roads by inculcating good safety practices among all road users. TP also conducts weekly engagements with various groups of stakeholders. 

12.    In addition, TP leverages on technology such as launching the compulsory simulator training since 2019 for new drivers to experience top causes of accidents and practice defensive driving under a safe and controlled environment. This allows them to appreciate the dangers on the roads and be more situationally aware of blind spots when driving on the roads. 

13.    We could have the safest road designs, and the best technology in our vehicles. But it is considerate, caring, and gracious behaviour by all while using our roads that will improve our daily commutes and make them safer for everyone.

Regulations & Enforcement

14.    A third and critical component to improving our road safety is road regulations and enforcement. These are the traffic laws and rules that all road users must obey to ensure safe roads for all to use. And this is the basic framework and tenet to encourage compliance, and deter misconduct. MHA amended the Road Traffic Act in 2019 and 2021 to enhance penalties against irresponsible driving, and will continue to review them to strike a balance between deterrence and proportionality. Of course, enforcement plays an important role in ensuring compliance. 

15.    Enforcement takes place through the deployment of resources on the ground and with the use of technology. Besides the deployment of officers to conduct daily and targeted enforcement, TP adopts new technology to augment its enforcement efforts. For instance, Mobile Speed Cameras were deployed to increase versatility of traffic enforcements at new locations. With the addition of 12 more red light cameras in 2020, there are now a total of 252 red light cameras in Singapore, up from 120 in 2015, to bolster island-wide enforcement.

Conclusion

16.    In conclusion, for there to be sustained improvements in road safety, we will need all four pillars that contribute to a healthy and positive transport ecosystem to come together – Road Design, User Behaviour, Regulations & Enforcement, and Vehicle Technology. 

17.    I appreciate the Member’s suggestion and thank him once again for raising this adjournment motion.  LTA will continue to monitor international technology trends, engage the industry and road users, and push the envelope in adopting vehicle safety technologies.