Reducing Road Traffic Accidents and Fatalities Involving Motorcyclists and Pillion Riders

22 Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis asked the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what benchmarks and targets has the Ministry set for road traffic fatality rates; and (b) what additional measures are being contemplated to address the rise in accidents and casualties involving motorcyclists and pillion riders.

The Minister of State for Home Affairs (Mr Goh Pei Ming) (for the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs): The Ministry has a range of measures, both legislative and relating to public education to encourage drivers and riders to be more careful. The Ministry has for example raised penalties for speeding, to try and reduce accidents. Ultimately, whether these measures succeed depend on all our road users.

In terms of benchmarks and targets in all of these areas, whether relating to crime, or to accidents, or other matters as such, the Government must approach on the basis that there is zero tolerance and that we should aim to prevent such accidents completely. Every fatality is one too many.

But we should also be realistic to accept that in any society, there will be crime. In every society, there will be accidents, and there will be other such incidents going forward. Some people will get into accidents, commit crime, regardless of the penalties. And attempts to prevent them from doing so, will not deter some.

To enhance road safety for all motorcyclists, the Traffic Police (TP) recently updated the standards for motorcycle helmets, which will take effect from 1 November 2025. In addition, the Land Transport Authority will require all newly registered motorcycles to be equipped with an Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) from 1 April 2027. This will reduce the risk of skidding and maintain vehicle stability during sudden and hard braking.

TP also runs public education campaigns targeted at the riding community. TP launched the Singapore Ride Safe campaign in conjunction with the Singapore Road Safety Month in 2025, which reached out to more than 13,500 people, and public awareness campaigns such as the "Reward the Sensible Motorist". These campaigns overall encourage motorcyclists to adopt safe riding habits and don protective riding gear.

Mr Speaker: Mr Chua.

Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis (Sengkang): Thank you, Speaker. Just one supplementary question for the Minister of State. I understand from the latest mid-year traffic situation report that the number of speeding-related accidents has declined. That is some relief. But at the same time, the number of accidents involving motorcyclists have still risen by close to about 10% year-on-year, in the first half of the year.

The ABS requirement from 2027 onwards is a welcome addition. At the same time, will the Minister of State be able to share, based on his analysis of past motorcycle accidents, what are some of the key reasons for these accidents and fatalities, and any other preventive measures that the TP is considering implementing?

Mr Goh Pei Ming: Speaker, I thank the Member for his supplementary question. Indeed, the recent mid-year statistics on overall road accidents have indicated that the number of accidents involving motorcyclists increased about 9.5% from about 1,900 in the first half of last year, to about 2,088 in the first half of this year.

The number of motorcyclists who get involved in traffic accidents is high, and in fact they constitute a disproportionately larger proportion of overall accidents in Singapore. I quote, specifically 54.7% of accidents in the first half of 2025 involved motorcyclists and pillion riders. So, it is an area of concern for us and we do want to keep our motorcyclists, our riders safe.

A whole series of measures are in place. Both the Ministry of Home Affairs as well as our TP colleagues have been working very hard, be it from the aspect of public education, going upstream; be it in terms of licensing; be it in terms of penalties downstream; be it in terms of putting in place reminders on the roads, reminder messages in terms of getting people to pay attention to the speed, to ride safe and be considerate, for example, as well as enforcement measures on the streets, we have put in all the measures that we think are effective.

As I mentioned in my earlier response, some of these measures are effective, but there will still be accidents that will take place.

The two initiatives that we recently promoted in terms of the standards for the motorcyclist helmets, as well as the ABS are the newest initiatives that we are putting out to do our part to make sure that we bring the accident numbers down.

We will continue to review whether there are new technologies available in the market for us to adopt. I welcome the Member to share if there are other suggestions.