TRAFFIC-DISRUPTING MISHAPS ON EXPRESSWAYS

TRAFFIC-DISRUPTING MISHAPS ON EXPRESSWAYS: 14.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak asked the Minister for Transport with a daily average of 100 traffic-disrupting mishaps on the expressways (a) what are the main reasons for the occurrences of these mishaps; (b) what measures are being taken to reduce them; and (c) what is the Land Transport Authority (LTA) doing to ensure that traffic flow is not unduly disrupted when such mishaps occur.

The Second Minister for Transport (Mrs Lim Hwee Hua):

(for the Minister for Transport): Sir, based on LTA’s records for the year 2010, an average of 100 incidents take place daily on our expressway network. These are mainly vehicle breakdowns, which number around 60 to 70 daily and traffic accidents at around 30 to 40 daily. Depending on the time and location, it is not necessarily true that all these incidents result in traffic disruption.

The Traffic Police investigates traffic accidents involving injuries. Based on

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these records, those that occur along expressways are commonly caused by motorists who fail to adhere to safe driving practices, such as keeping a proper lookout for surrounding vehicles and exercising due consideration when changing lanes.

Improving motorist behaviour and inculcating a safe motoring culture to reduce the incidence of traffic accidents requires a multi-pronged approach. Beginning with the training and certification of new drivers and riders, the Traffic Police works closely with driving schools to ensure that learner drivers and riders become competent, responsible and safe road users. Syllabuses are fine-tuned if necessary to remain relevant. One such adjustment was the recent introduction of the new Expressway Familiarisation Ride Course, which aims to give new motorcyclists the confidence of interacting with faster moving traffic along expressways before they take to the roads on their own. The Traffic Police also works with the community and LTA to conduct regular road safety campaigns to instil safe driving habits in motorists and routinely conducts enforcement blitzes as part of the ongoing enforcement effort to deter errant driving behaviour.

When incidents do occur on our expressways, the Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System (EMAS) enables LTA to respond swiftly. LTA monitors traffic conditions on expressways round the clock through a network of EMAS detection and surveillance cameras. When incidents are detected, LTA despatches strategically positioned tow trucks and LTA Traffic Marshals to the scene within eight and 15 minutes to control traffic and to clear the roadway as soon as possible. Relevant traffic advisories are also displayed on electronic signboards along our expressways to help motorists make informed decisions about their route and avoid the congested areas if they choose to. These measures help to

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minimise undue delays and inconvenience to expressway users. We urge all motorists to drive cautiously on our expressways, and to act safely and to be considerate at all times.

Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang): Sir, I thank the Minister for her reply. I have two supplementary questions, one of which is what is the average disruption time or the clearance time required when a minor accident takes place when there is no injury versus one that has casualty involved? And, likewise, will the MOT consider rolling out more public education programmes to inform even existing drivers of the "do"s and "don't"s during an accident? Because, currently, it gets very congested and I find that people are very lost once an accident happens and there is a long delay.

Mrs Lim Hwee Hua: Sir, based on the record last year, LTA's data shows that more than 85% of the expressway traffic incidents are cleared with less than 20 minutes of delay caused to affected motorists, so that is the experience so far. Where there is casualty, then it varies substantially depending on the scale of the pile-up or the incident.

As regards public education, certainly that is an area where it is, again, a multi-agency approach and that will continue with LTA working with the Traffic Police as well as with the school children because that is a main group of concern as well. Currently, we have the traffic management channel which provides "live" data and feed to motorists who use the navigational systems, so they can be informed, too, about which are the roads to avoid in the event of an incident.