Accidents Involving Heavy Vehicles Driven by S Pass and Work Permit Holders
Ministry of Home AffairsSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns heavy vehicle accident statistics and enforcement measures for foreign drivers, as raised by Ms Joan Pereira. Parliamentary Secretary Amrin Amin reported an annual average of 791 injuries and 39 fatal accidents, with foreigners at fault in 45% of such incidents. To bolster enforcement, the Traffic Police are deploying technology like average speed cameras and conducting tachograph trials, while strictly monitoring speed limiter tampering. Policy changes now require foreign vocational drivers to obtain a Singapore driving licence within six months to ensure they meet the same competency requirements as local drivers. Additionally, the government uses public education movements and a multi-agency taskforce to address accident causes such as fatigue and failure to keep a proper look-out.
Transcript
16 Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Home Affairs (a) how many buses, goods vehicles and heavy vehicles have been involved in accidents in the last five years; (b) how many of these accidents have been caused by drivers holding work permits and S Passes; and (c) what measures are there to help bolster the efforts of our enforcement officers.
The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Amrin Amin) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): In the last five years, there were, on average, each year 791 injuries and 39 fatal accidents involving heavy vehicles, including buses and goods vehicles.
For accidents in which the heavy vehicle drivers were found to be at fault, around 45% of the drivers were foreigners, including work permit and S Pass holders.
The Traffic Police (TP) leverages technology, for example, speeding and red-running cameras, to bolster its enforcement efforts. Clear warning signs are erected before the TP camera enforcement zones to remind motorists to be careful and slow down. Next year, TP will be deploying Average Speed Cameras to detect and compute the average speed of a vehicle as it enters and exits the enforcement zones. These cameras will ensure that motorists drive at safe speeds along the entire stretch of the road.
TP will also conduct a tachograph trial on heavy vehicles this year. The tachograph tracks and records vehicles' speed and other driving information. Companies that are involved in the trial will be able to track their drivers' tachograph records and improve the drivers' driving behaviour.
Public education is also key to improving road safety. TP educates and engages heavy vehicle drivers on road safety and good driving practices. One example is the "Use Your RoadSense" movement, which was launched two years ago. Through regular dialogues and social media platforms, the movement encourages good driving behaviour and personal responsibility amongst different road users, including heavy vehicle drivers.
Ms Joan Pereira (Tanjong Pagar): Madam, I thank the Parliamentary Secretary for his reply. I have two supplementary questions. First, what measures are in place to ensure our foreign drivers have the competencies to drive safely in Singapore? Second, why is there still speeding involving heavy vehicles, given that heavy vehicles have been equipped with speed limit devices?
Mr Amrin Amin: I thank the Member for the questions. On the first point, starting from 1 January 2016, foreign vocational drivers are required to obtain a Singapore driving licence within six months of the issuance of their Work Pass as compared to one year previously. The licence will have to be renewed every five years. This ensures that foreign vocational drivers are subjected to the same requirements as locals before they are allowed to drive heavy vehicles here.
On the second question, speed limiters were introduced in Singapore in July 1999 to reduce the number of speed-related accidents caused by heavy vehicles. However, the TP has encountered cases where heavy vehicles travelled above the speed limit. This could have happened because the speed limiters of these vehicles were faulty or have been tampered with.
TP has been stepping up enforcement efforts by conducting operations to detect and deter the tampering of speed limiters in heavy vehicles and driving with a faulty speed limiter. Any person who tampers with speed limiters of heavy vehicles or who drives a heavy vehicle with a faulty speed limiter can be jailed up to three months or fined up to $1,000.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong (Non-Constituency Member): Madam, can I ask the Parliamentary Secretary whether driver fatigue has been identified as a major cause of the accidents for the foreign drivers? If so, what are the efforts to engage the workers as well as the companies, especially with the possibility that the workers may be working overtime to increase their salary before they go home.
Mr Amrin Amin: That is a very valid concern and we have a taskforce working with various agencies, including MOM, to see what we can do to engage the heavy vehicle drivers. The main causes of accidents involving heavy vehicles were failure to keep a proper look-out, failure to give way to traffic and failure to maintain proper control. It may have been a result of fatigue but it may also be other factors and that is where we have to target on a holistic basis.