ACCIDENTS INVOLVING BUSES (Figures)

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi asked the Minister for Communications and Information what was the number of accidents, involving buses of the Singapore Bus Company Limited and other bus companies and in which passengers died or suffered injuries, in the first two months of 1986; how does this figure compare with that for the same period in 1985; and whether his Ministry will take action to ensure that such accidents, especially those involving school children, are minimized, if not stopped.

Mr Ho Kah Leong: Mr Speaker, Sir, for the first two months of 1986, there were a total of 68 accidents involving the Singapore Bus Service (1978) Ltd and the Trans-Island Bus Services (Pte) Ltd which resulted in passengers suffering injuries. There was no accident in which bus passengers died. For comparison, during this period for all road accidents, there were 38 fatal cases and 970 cases which resulted in injuries. For January and February 1985, there were 59 accidents involving SBS and TIBS which resulted in passengers suffering injuries. There was again no accident in which passengers died. Overall, the accident rate for buses over the past decade has been decreasing from 3.3 accidents per 100,000 km travelled in 1977 to 1.6 in 1985, as shown in Table 1 (Cols. 1225 - 1226), which has been circulated to Members earlier on. Table 1 (Cols. 1225 - 1226)

Sir, as regards the action my Ministry will take on such accidents, I have already given a reply to the hon. Member for Delta two days ago in this House.

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi (Siglap): Sir, comparing the first two months of this year with last year, there seems to be an increase of accidents of SBS and TIBS services. Could the Senior Parliamentary Secretary comment on this?

Mr Ho Kah Leong: Can the Member repeat his question?

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi: If I got the Senior Parliamentary Secretary correct, he said that the first two months of this year there were 68 accidents. Right?

Mr Ho Kah Leong: Yes, 68 accidents.

Mr Abdullah Tarmugi: And in January and February of last year, there were 59 accidents. Therefore, there seems to be an increase, comparing period for period. Does he think this trend will continue? Because if this trend continues, then there would be an increase over last year.

Mr Ho Kah Leong: Sir, as I have said, we will take necessary measures to try and cut down such accidents.