SINGAPORE - The eighth Singapore Road Safety Month was launched on Tuesday (June 2), with traffic expected to increase as Singapore enters the first day of its post-circuit breaker reopening.
Posters and banners will be fixed on trains, bus shelters and lamp posts during the month-long campaign to remind pedestrians to "ensure that all vehicles have come to a stop before crossing", and motorists to "slow down when approaching traffic lights".
Winners of a road safety art competition in March will also have their works printed on ez-link cards for distribution.
Although primarily focused on the heartland and areas near schools, banners will also be displayed - for the first time - in residential estates in Bukit Timah, the police and the Singapore Road Safety Council said.
The campaign is jointly organised by the two, together with the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Ministry of Education, People's Association and the Automobile Association of Singapore.
The Road Safety Council and the police will engage road users online to reach out to more people, given the continued movement restrictions during the phase one period of the reopening.
The campaign launch comes after a slowdown in traffic activity during the past two months, which saw road accidents declining by more than 40 per cent. Since January, traffic volume has also shrunk by an average of 60 per cent across the island.
However, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan has said that people should expect conditions to gradually return to normal levels.
Ms Sim Ann, an MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, said the inclusion of Bukit Timah in the campaign is a logical one, as "driving in residential estates requires no less caution and care than driving on main roads".
"We strongly believe that our road safety campaign needs to move from arterial roads into residential estates, and I am glad the Singapore Road Safety Council is ready to do so," she said.
Singapore has seen a downward trend in traffic deaths since 2010, from 3.8 deaths per 100,000 people to 2.2 per 100,000 last year.
The number of elderly pedestrians killed on roads, however, increased by 12.5 per cent, from 24 in 2018 to 27 last year. More than half of these fatalities were the result of jaywalking.
