IF you experienced a safer ride on a road or at a junction known for its accident-prone history, it probably did not come by chance.
It could due to the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) Black Spot programme, in which 68 such locations were identified and made safer, cutting down drastically the number of accidents in these areas.
The authority did this by installing red light camera, changing traffic light timings and resurfacing roads to slow down vehicles.
At the junction of Upper Serangoon Road/Upper Paya Lebar Road/Boundary Road, for example, the installation of Red-Amber-Green (RAG) arrows to control right turns has reduced the number of accidents from 15 to three over a year.
Further north at the Seletar Expressway/Bukit Timah Expressway interchange, the road has been resurfaced, speed regulating strips lengthened and lanes narrowed. Over five months, the number of accidents has fallen from seven to zero.
In all, 33 expressways, 32 road junctions and three expressway interchanges have been improved under this Black Spot programme since it began in 2005.
According to the LTA, these locations were identified for road safety engineering enhancements after recording over 15 accidents over the past three years.
After accident patterns are mapped out, engineers begin a site investigation to relate the accident data to details such as road geometry and the surrounding land use to determine ways to improve the site.
The solutions vary in costs — between $500 for installing better visual signs, to $100,000 for measures such as road resurfacing.
While motorists Today spoke to felt that the roads here are generally safe, some suggested further improvements.
Accounts manager Simon Wong said the introduction of various bus lanes schemes has resulted in not just extra rules for motorists to follow, but also extra signs and different coloured road markings to look out for. "It can be very distracting," he said.
Teacher Eugene Ng said traffic lights here could be installed with displays that would indicate the time left before the traffic light changes. This would help drivers like himself to slow down, he said.
Last year, there were 7,499 road traffic accidents in Singapore — 10,000 people were injured and 190 people were killed. This translates to a fatal traffic accident every two days.