Debated in Parliament on 5 Mar 2025.
Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Home Affairs in view of the number of people killed and injured in traffic accidents in 2024 at a five-year high (a) what are the profiles of speeding motorists in terms of age, gender, nationality, years of driving experience and types of vehicles driven; (b) whether public education and penalties can be adapted to target groups at higher risks of offending; (c) what are the main reasons for speeding violations; and (d) what new measures will be considered to reduce drink-driving incidents.
Sir, based on the data on speeding violations in 2024, males, Singapore Citizens and those driving cars are disproportionately represented amongst speeding offenders. As for age, nothing stands out. The Traffic Police (TP) does not track the data based on years of driving experience.
TP collaborates with community partners to conduct public education campaigns for different road user groups. For example, we have the annual Anti-Drink Drive campaign and Singapore Road Safety Month campaign, with the latter, focusing on a different theme every year, depending on the traffic trends.
TP complements this with engagement of vulnerable road users, such as elderly pedestrians and children, with different campaigns addressing the specific behaviours of each group. As for the penalty framework, those who commit multiple offences or are recalcitrant offenders can expect to receive higher penalties.
Egregious offenders are more likely to face prosecution in court instead of being offered composition. In addition, the Road Traffic Act mandates heavier penalties, such as suspension of licence and mandatory minimum sentences for certain profiles of repeat offenders.
TP does not track the reasons for speeding. That said, commonly cited excuses include the lack of awareness of the speed limit or of the speed at which the motorist was travelling, and urgency to reach to reach appointments.
Drink driving is a major concern for TP. To tackle this, we increased our penalties in 2019 with mandatory imprisonment and mandatory disqualification of licence for dangerous and careless driving offences, if the offenders were under the influence of alcohol. TP has also intensified enforcement against drink driving. In addition, we are reviewing the maximum allowable breath and blood alcohol concentration limits and will announce the details when ready.
Ms Pereira.
Thank you, Speaker. I have two supplementary questions for the Minister of State. I would like to ask, first whether the red-light cameras have been effective in improving the enforcement of speeding offences since 1 April 2024. Second, what are the state of progress and future plans for the island wide roll-out of using red-light cameras to detect speeding offences, if the red light cameras are effective?
I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. Indeed, TP's use of the red-light cameras with the speeding enforcement function has been effective in deterring speeding.
If Members can remember, at the initial part, there was an initial increase in speeding violations at red light camera locations where the speed enforcement function was activated. But we saw a gradual decrease over time. So, we are pleased that people are more cognisant of the fact that they need to be careful, they need to make sure that they practise road safety habits and so forth.
So, with this in mind, we will also continue to activate the speed enforcement function on more red-light cameras in 2025 and at the same time, we will also do more enforcement work on the ground.
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