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SINGAPORE: Road safety has taken centrestage in the past few days, especially on the issue of safety belts for young children.
Over the past three years, the Traffic Police had issued an average of 4,000 summonses a year for seat-belt offences.
Out of these summonses, about 30 were issued per year for child-restraint related offences.
8-year-old Russell Koh was killed when he was flung out of a school bus last Thursday. His family members said his death could have been prevented if there was a safety belt system on the bus.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it is in consultations with the motor industry on an affordable and effective safety belt and anchoring system for small school buses.
Industry players said such additional features would mean buses would have to take in fewer children, which could lead to an increase in bus fees by some 50 percent.
One of them said: "I don't think it is practical to make every young kid wear the safety belt because of their size, and there are kids of different sizes, so it's quite difficult for any manufacturer to install such seats."
"It has a lot to do with education. The kids have to know that for their own safety, they have to put on a safety belt," another said.
LTA is expected to come up with recommendations on this issue later this year.
Besides safety belts, there are also concerns about general safety on the roads. Some said the "kiasu" attitude of some Singaporean drivers, coupled with the stress of always rushing around, affects road safety.
Traffic Police statistics have shown that while the number of fatalities is down for the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, the numbers for other types of injuries are up.
- CNA/so
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