Public Education

Traffic Police (TP) works closely with our strategic partners and the community to promote road safety awareness and influence road user behaviour through our various public education outreach programmes. Regular large-scale campaigns such as the Road Courtesy Campaign, Road Safety Outreach, Annual Shell Traffic Games and the Anti-Drink-Driving (ADD) campaign helped reinforce the importance of road safety. All in all, about 1,284 talks, exhibitions and outreach sessions were conducted last year. TP will further enhance our educational efforts to drive home road safety messages.

Motorcyclists

As motorcyclist fatalities remain an area of concern, the Motorcycle Task Force (MTF) was formed by TP to study the issue of motorcycle fatalities; and develop and implement strategies that would reduce such fatalities. Apart from enforcement actions, the MTF has launched the Ride Safe campaign that is specially targeted at motorcyclists on the importance of practicing safe riding habits. TP has also been working with members of motorcycle clubs to give road safety talks to young riders at ITE and polytechnics. The MTF will continue to monitor and fine-tune our efforts to further bring down motorcycle fatalities and injuries.

Speeding

Speeding continues to be an area of concern as well. TP will continue to step up enforcement against speedsters. In addition, TP will continue to leverage on technologies to deter and detect speeding violations.

Drink Driving

The significant rise in drink-driving arrests is a worrying trend – recording a 7% rise from 3,733 cases in 2006, to 4,009 cases in 2007. The total number of drink-driving cases in 2007 has also been the highest for the last 10 years. This is largely contributed by a 9% increase in the number of drivers who were detected for drink-driving in non-accident cases. Non-accident cases have the potential to become accident cases, resulting in injuries and even deaths to drivers and other innocent road users.

TP will be taking a tougher approach in dealing with those who drink and drive. We will be enhancing our enforcement strategy by deploying road blocks around entertainment outlets to detect drink drivers. The ring-fencing strategy entails grouping entertainment outlets such as pubs, discotheques and nightclubs, as well as coffee shops and food centres, into various clusters based on accident statistics and/or ground feedback to apprehend drink drivers. All possible egress routes from each of these clusters will be identified. During a typical 'ring-fencing' operation, road blocks will be set up along all the egress routes, resulting in virtually 100% checks on all motorists leaving the cluster area. TP will vary the timings and areas of operation.

TP will continue to work with entertainment outlet operators to spread the anti-drink driving message and to provide services such as arranging for taxis to take drunk patrons home. We will also urge the operators to help screen their patrons who drink beyond the legal limit, and advise them not to drive. In order to drive home the Anti-Drink Drive message, especially amongst young drivers, TP also worked with polytechnic students to set up the Students Against Drink Driving (SADD) website that uses new media to reach out to fellow students on the dangers of drink driving. An Anti-Drink Driving (ADD) pledge was also written to advocate and promote anti-drink driving behaviour.

Singapore is seeing a growing drinking culture – market intelligence surveys indicate that alcohol consumption in Singapore is on the rise. TP is not against drinking per se - it is the irresponsible patrons who choose to take the risk of driving after drinking that calls for tougher action on the part of TP.