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