Fatal road accidents up last year as activities resumed

More people died or were injured in road accidents last year, the Traffic Police (TP) said yesterday, as Singapore moved towards living with Covid-19 and more activities resumed.

Releasing annual statistics on the road traffic situation here, the Traffic Police said 107 people died on the roads last year, compared with 83 in 2020.

It emphasised, however, that this was fewer than the 118 people who died in 2019 before the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, the number of fatal road accidents rose by 25 per cent - from 80 cases in 2020 to 100 cases last year.

There were also more people hurt in traffic accidents last year as the number of vehicles on the roads increased. A total of 7,184 people were injured last year, up from 6,669 in 2020.

There were fewer seniors aged 60 and above injured in traffic accidents last year - 189, down from 222 in 2020.

But deaths of senior pedestrians remained at 15 for both years.

Jaywalking was the main reason for these fatalities, accounting for about half of the fatal accidents.

The police said motorcyclists and senior pedestrians remain groups of concern as they continue to account for a high number of traffic accidents resulting in injuries or death.

More than 65 per cent of pedestrian-related fatal accidents last year involved seniors.

The number of motorcycle accidents also rose, from 3,180 in 2020 to 3,433 last year. This resulted in more motorcyclists and pillion riders getting hurt, from 3,381 in 2020 to 3,659 last year.

Fifty of them died last year, one more than in 2020.

In response to queries, a police spokesman said the top reasons for accidents caused by motorcyclists last year were failure to keep a proper lookout, failure to have proper control of the vehicle and overtaking without due care.

The Traffic Police said that to address these issues, it will continue to engage motorcyclists and senior road users on good road habits.

This includes reminding motorcyclists through its "Ride Safe" campaign to don protective riding gear, stay out of blind spots of larger vehicles and slow down as they manoeuvre bends or corners.

"Elderly pedestrians are encouraged to refrain from jaywalking and (they should) make use of designated pedestrian crossings," the spokesman said.

While there were more drink-driving accidents last year - 153 compared with 146 in 2020 - the number of these accidents that were fatal dropped to eight from 13 in 2020.

The number of people nabbed for drink-driving fell by 9.6 per cent, from 1,517 in 2020 to 1,371 in last year.

There were also fewer speeding violations - 139,277 compared with 163,823 in 2020. But the number of speeding-related accidents rose by 28 per cent - from 757 in 2020 to 969 last year.

Motorists ran fewer red lights on the roads last year - there were 44,607 cases last year, down 13.3 per cent from 51,459 in 2020.

But accidents caused by the running of red lights rose from 119 in 2020 to 132 last year.

The TP said it will continue to adopt a "very tough enforcement stance against irresponsible driving". "Errant motorists who flout traffic rules such as red-light running, speeding or drink driving may be prosecuted in court."