TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS BY HEAVY VEHICLE DRIVERS

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TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS BY HEAVY VEHICLE DRIVERS:

(Enforcement measures): 10.

Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether the current punitive measures for speeding and other violations by drivers of heavy vehicles are an effective deterrent; and (b) whether the Ministry has other more comprehensive plans to make our roads safer from heavy vehicle collisions as they are often fatal.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M) (for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs): Mr Speaker, in the past three years, an average of 12 fatal accidents involving heavy vehicles took place on Singapore's roads each year. Because of their size, heavy vehicles involved in traffic accidents are likely to cause extensive

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damage and more serious injuries to other road users.

Traffic Police (TP) maintains a tough enforcement stance against errant drivers of heavy vehicles. Besides making regular patrols, Portable Speed Laser cameras (PSLC) are frequently mounted along expressways and roads used by heavy vehicles to deter and detect speeding activities. In fact, TP has stepped up enforcement efforts against heavy vehicle drivers significantly, with more dedicated operations conducted to detect reckless drivers. Thus, the number of summonses issued to heavy vehicle drivers for various moving offences more than doubled in the first nine months of 2008, to 2,215 summonses from 898 summonses issued in the same period in 2007.

Besides enforcement efforts, TP constantly reviews our laws to ensure that they remain relevant in the current environment, and are adequate to deter irresponsible and dangerous road use. In this regard, a review is currently on-going to look into raising the composition amounts for heavy vehicle drivers who flout traffic rules.

While punitive measures may deter reckless driving behaviour, the Police cannot be everywhere all the time. A comprehensive public education and engagement programme is equally important. To this end, TP has been constantly engaging the heavy vehicle transport industry, including both fleet owners and their drivers. For instance, TP, together with Singapore Oxygen Air Liquid Pte Ltd (SOXAL) and the heavy vehicle associations launched the 'Heavy Vehicle Driver Safety Programme' in 2008 to promote awareness among heavy vehicle drivers. Items such as banners, tissue boxes, decals and stickers were all utilised to spread road safety messages.

In conclusion, TP will continue to take enforcement action and run education

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programmes to inculcate a safety mindset amongst heavy vehicle drivers. However, road safety is not the sole responsibility of TP. Everyone has a part to play. Heavy vehicle drivers need to recognise the enormous responsibility associated with driving their vehicles, and exercise extra caution while on the roads. Heavy vehicle owners also have to ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy and that drivers are properly trained and equipped to drive in a safe and responsible manner.

Assoc. Prof. Kalyani K Mehta (Nominated Member): I have three supplementary questions, Sir. One, may I find out from the Senior Parliamentary Secretary whether he is aware of the digital tachograph technology which records speeding and timing of drivers of vehicles? In the European Union, the tachograph has been made mandatory since 1985 and since 2006, the digital version is compulsory for all new commercial vehicles. Has his Ministry considered using digital tachograph technology to monitor speed of drivers of heavy vehicles, such as trucks, lorries and buses? If no, what are the reasons for not implementing? Two, how closely does the Ministry work with the companies that hire these heavy vehicles and their drivers? The company operators can also assist the Ministry to regulate the speeding of the drivers because in this digital tachograph, they can store a 12-month period of record and this can also help the Police when there are traffic accidents. Three, if the Minister feels that the current measures are effective, can he explain the rise of pedestrian accidents involving people below 17 years, by 41% in the time period January to June in 2008, as compared to 2007? This was reported in the Straits Times yesterday. As recent as last Monday, a nine-year-old boy was hit by a tipper truck and he died when he was using a zebra crossing.

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Mr Masagos Zulkifli B M M: I thank the hon. Member for raising some interesting devices that the Traffic Police could consider in enforcing their regulations. However, we are not yet, at this point in time, looking at these devices.

I would answer the third question immediately, which is the enforcement of these regulations. The speed limiter device that we have put in our vehicles restrict the drivers to 60 kilometres an hour. As Members all know, they require regular maintenance and sometimes they can also be tampered by errant drivers. Therefore, we do want to deal with this minority group of drivers who tend to flout the laws. For the first nine months of 2008, the number of summonses issued to people who flouted the law by tampering with these devices had continued to increase to around 50%. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to highlight the hefty penalties for tampering of the speed limiters, failing to properly maintain the speed limiters or driving with faulty speed limiters. However, the number of fatal accidents that we note, due to heavy vehicle drivers, are not caused by speed-related offences. They are largely caused by errant drivers in the way they drive and they are usually errant in this respect.