SINGAPORE – Traffic accidents claimed the lives of 136 people in 2023, a 25.9 per cent jump from the 108 deaths in 2022.

The 136 fatalities figure is the highest since 2016, when there were 141 deaths. The latest figure also exceeds the pre-Covid-19 level of 118 deaths in 2019, said the Traffic Police (TP) on Feb 20 when releasing its annual statistics report.

The report also showed increases in the number of fatal accidents involving speeding, drink driving and running the red light.

Motorcyclists and pillion riders accounted for half of all road fatalities, while elderly pedestrians made up nearly 20 per cent.

TP commander and Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) of Police Daniel Tan said to the media: “We are naturally concerned with the increase in road fatalities over the past two years.

“Of note are the motorcyclists, their pillion riders and elderly pedestrians who make up the most vulnerable group of road users.

“(Thus), TP is going to enhance our enforcement methods. We will be rolling out the speed enforcement function in our red-light cameras, starting from next quarter. We will come down hard on road users who blatantly disregard the law.”

TP said in its statement that there was a significant increase in the number of accidents where the cause was failure on the part of the motorist to keep a proper lookout, failure to have proper control of the vehicle, or changing of lanes without due care.

It did not provide a breakdown of these offences.

TP added: “The traffic statistics show that there are many motorists who have irresponsible driving behaviours.”

To tackle this, TP will be increasing the composition sums and demerit points for certain traffic offences. More details will be announced later in 2024.

In 2023, the number of speeding-related fatal accidents increased by 83.3 per cent to 33, from 18 cases the year before. Thirty-seven people died from such accidents in 2023, an 85 per cent rise from the 20 deaths in 2022.

While there were fewer speeding violations detected by traffic enforcement cameras – 52,237 compared with 73,152 in 2022 – the number of such violations detected by other police enforcement operations rose by 22 per cent to 63,468, from 52,016 in 2022.

TP said: “This shows that speed cameras are effective in deterring speeding, and that motorists choose to speed at locations where they think no one is watching.”

Describing this as a worrying trend, TP said it will progressively activate the speed enforcement function in red-light cameras across Singapore to deter motorists from speeding in areas where there are no static speed cameras.

This will be done especially in locations that are more accident- or violation-prone, TP added.

Red-light cameras, which are in orange and white, have warning signs indicating the speed limit for the road.

Drink-driving accidents saw a slight rise, from 175 in 2022 to 180 in 2023. The number of fatal drink-driving accidents also rose slightly to 11, from 10 in 2022.

There were fewer cases of motorists running the red light in 2023 – violations fell by 28.8 per cent to 31,815, from 44,688 in 2022.

But the number of fatal accidents caused by running the red light rose from three in 2022 to eight in 2023.

SAC Tan said: “All of us have a part to play in keeping our roads safe. I urge everyone not to insist on your right of way and to have a little bit of patience when on the road.”

In the second half of 2024, TP will be launching a road safety campaign to encourage people to be responsible road users. The campaign will target all road users, particularly vulnerable road user groups, it said.

The penalty for running a red light is 12 demerit points and a composite fine of $400 for light vehicles and $500 for heavy ones.

If convicted of drink driving, an offender can be fined up to $10,000 and jailed for up to a year.