More red-amber-green arrows to be installed, reducing discretionary right-turn junctions to under 15%

SINGAPORE: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is looking to set up more red-amber-green arrows to reduce the proportion of road junctions where motorists can make discretionary right turns.

Red-amber-green arrows have been implemented at over 1,200 traffic junctions since 2018, and LTA is making similar plans for about 200 other junctions, subject to further site studies. 

"This will further reduce the proportion of traffic junctions in Singapore that allow motorists to make discretionary right turns to less than 15 per cent of all signalised junctions," Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat said in a written parliamentary reply on Wednesday (May 8).

"Most of the remaining junctions are single-right turn lanes with only one lane of oncoming traffic, so the risks are lower."

Mr Chee was responding to questions from Member of Parliament Ang Wei Neng (PAP-West Coast) about the number of traffic junctions that allow motorists to make discretionary right turns and the number of accidents involving discretionary right turns.

The issue of discretionary right turns became a talking point in 2018 after an accident which killed National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduate Kathy Ong. Her taxi driver made a discretionary right turn at the cross junction of Commonwealth Avenue West and Clementi Road, and an oncoming car subsequently crashed into the cab.

There have been other high-profile cases. In 2022, a Grab driver died after his car collided with a lorry in Ang Mo Kio while he was making a discretionary right turn.

Another man was jailed for 10 weeks in July last year after causing the death of a police officer at a Shenton Way crossing while performing a discretionary right turn. 

During a 2019 parliamentary debate on amendments to the Road Traffic Act, MPs urged authorities to speed up the removal of discretionary right turns at all junctions, arguing that they were "fundamentally problematic". 

Mr Chee said on Wednesday that between 2019 and 2023, there were about 2,700 reported accidents at junctions with discretionary right turns.

“Of these, 56 accidents resulted in fatalities," he added.

Former Transport Minister S Iswaran previously said in August 2022 that LTA observed about a 40 per cent reduction in accidents involving right turns after implementing the arrows.

Road safety has been in the spotlight in parliament with a high-profile accident in Tampines last month that killed two people, including a teenage girl. 

In response to questions from various MPs, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Tuesday that it will not be increasing the penalties for dangerous driving for now.

Nevertheless, LTA will continue to review, develop and implement programmes to enhance road safety.

MOTORCYCLE LANES "NOT FEASIBLE"

MP Murali Pillai (PAP-Bukit Batok) also suggested on Wednesday a proposal to construct motorcycle lanes on expressways, in light of the continued increase in motorcycle-related fatalities on such routes.

Last month, a 26-year-old motorcyclist was killed in an accident involving a lorry along the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), and in November 2023, a motorcyclist died after a man with schizophrenia jumped out of a minibus along the East Coast Parkway (ECP), causing an accident.

In February, the police said that motorcyclists and elderly pedestrians are the most vulnerable groups of road users, and continue to account for a disproportionate number of traffic accidents resulting in injuries or death.

While motorcycles make up only 14.4 per cent of the total vehicle population, motorcyclists or pillion riders were involved in 53.5 per cent of all traffic accidents and accounted for half of all traffic fatalities, they added.

"Compared to 2022, the number of fatal accidents in 2023 involving motorcyclists and elderly pedestrians increased by 44.0 per cent and 13.0 per cent respectively," the police said.

Addressing the concern raised by Mr Murali, Mr Chee said LTA has implemented engineering measures to improve the safety of motorcyclists and pillion riders.

These include the use of more skid-resistant road surfaces, the implementation of wider and more prominent lane markings to encourage motorists to keep in lane, and the building of motorcycle rain shelters below flyovers.

However, “it is not feasible to construct motorcycle lanes on expressways given our land constraints, and also because many expressway sections are viaducts, flyovers and tunnels which are not wide enough to construct additional motorcycle lanes,” he said.

Mr Chee added that the government remains committed to improving the safety of motorcyclists, as well as other road users, and will continue to work on various initiatives and measures to enhance road safety.

“The LTA, Traffic Police, and the Singapore Road Safety Council (SRSC) have various outreach activities to engage key stakeholder groups annually,” he said.

“This includes the Singapore Road Safety Month, and the Singapore Ride Safe Campaign, which encourage all road users to do their part in making our roads safe, and motorcyclists to practise safe riding habits.”