Rule on Turning Traffic

Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Minister for Transport whether LTA will discontinue the road traffic rule where turning traffic is allowed simultaneously with parallel-crossing pedestrians.

Mr Lui Tuck Yew: The Land Transport Authority (LTA) installs traffic lights at road junctions to regulate conflicting traffic flows. This ensures smooth traffic flow on our roads as well as safety for all road users. At most T- or cross junctions, vehicles are allowed to make use of gaps in the opposing traffic to turn when the traffic signal is green. A necessary condition is that motorists have sufficient sight distance to watch out for pedestrians crossing the road. Turning vehicles are required to give way to these pedestrians.

Motorists making these turns are aided by various measures such as turning pockets, guiding lines and lighted road studs at selected locations to enhance road safety. This arrangement reduces delay and optimises the overall efficiency of our road junctions by allocating sufficient green time for all road users.

At certain junctions where motorists' view are obstructed, or due to other traffic conditions, LTA introduces additional measures, such as the Red-Amber-Green arrows to separate the movement of turning traffic with opposing traffic and pedestrians completely. At these junctions, turning traffic is not allowed, except at allocated green times, even when there is a gap in the opposing traffic flow and no pedestrians are using the parallel crossing.

Singapore is not the only country that allows vehicles making use of traffic gaps to turn. Such traffic arrangements are also adopted in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, etc. In a dense road network where all road users share a common space, we adopt a balanced approach, where we place the highest priority on the safety of pedestrians and motorists, while also keeping the road network efficient.

Road safety is a shared responsibility among all stakeholders and road users. While the Government continues our efforts to make roads safer, all road users need to play their part, either as a motorist or a pedestrian.

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