Adjournment motion on harnessing technology for better road safety outcomes

Singapore can do better to lower the rates of death and serious injury arising from road accidents, said MP Murali Pillai in Parliament on Thursday (Aug 3). He noted that Singapore’s roads are relatively safe on a country-by-country basis but not when compared with several metropolitan cities including Hong Kong, London and Tokyo. Mr Murali asked the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to consider mandating the use - in all vehicles - of safety technologies that have an established record of being able to reduce collisions. He acknowledged that cost will be a significant downside, but said this needs to be balanced against the cost savings from preventing crashes, as well as saving lives. He also pointed out that Singapore has a relatively young vehicle population, so a good number of vehicles would already have such safety features. In response, Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said LTA has already been tapping safety technology, mainly in heavy vehicles and public buses, which also protects other road users. It is also studying the impact of mandating anti-lock braking systems for motorcycles. However, she said technology can only be implemented effectively after assessing many factors such as reliability and cost-effectiveness as well as motorists’ readiness to adapt. She identified three other “pillars” to improve road safety - namely, road design, user behaviour, and regulations and enforcement.