Question
Mr Melvin Yong Yik Chye: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs with regard to the recent island-wide operation against heavy vehicle drivers (a) what are the main violations for issuing the summonses; (b) what is the trend of heavy vehicle violations in the past five years; and (c) what is the Ministry's plan to reduce these violations as heavy vehicles can potentially cause greater damage and loss of life on the roads.
Answer:
1. The most common traffic violations by heavy vehicle drivers are speeding and red-light running.
2. Over the past five years, from 2013 to 2017, traffic violations committed by heavy vehicle drivers increased by an annualised rate of 6.7%.
3. Traffic Police (TP) has been conducting regular road safety talks and dialogues with heavy vehicle owners and drivers. At these events, TP shares the common causes of heavy vehicle accidents, and encourages drivers to adopt good road safety practices.
4. We will also continue to encourage drivers to refresh their driving skills. For example, SkillsFuture Singapore provides grants for drivers to attend MOM-approved training programmes, such as the “Crash Prevention Course” conducted by the Automobile Association of Singapore Academy. TP posts its road-safety tips for heavy vehicle drivers on its online learning portal.
5. TP and MOM are working with partners to test technological solutions that can foster safer driving. Examples include devices that can alert owners and drivers to risky behaviour such as speeding, tail-gating and sudden braking. Should these solutions prove to be effective, we will look into ways to encourage wide adoption.
