SINGAPORE – Fatality figures for motorcyclists and pillion riders almost doubled in the first quarter of 2023 from the same period in 2022 and 2021, when there were 12 and 13 deaths respectively.
From January to March 2023, there were 21 fatalities, the police said.
Motorcycle and road safety experts said the figures are “unprecedented”, given the stable road fatality statistics in the last few years.
Mr Bernard Tay, chairman of the Singapore Road Safety Council, said: “The figure is alarming but it needs to be analysed further to understand the number better.”
He added that the figure is “very exceptional for a quarter”.
The causes, noted the police, were motorcyclists failing to maintain proper control of their vehicles, not keeping a proper lookout and disobeying traffic light signals, leading to accidents with other vehicles.
It is not known if the majority of the fatalities involved Singaporean or foreign motorcyclists.
The total motorcycle population in Singapore has been stable – at 142,229 in 2021, 143,092 in 2022 and 142,415 in March 2023.
Police annual statistics released in February show that in 2022, motorcyclists and pillion riders were involved in 3,854 traffic accidents – constituting about 56.1 per cent of all such accidents – up from 3,464 in 2021.
More of them were also hurt – 4,165 in 2022 compared with 3,693 in 2021. Forty-seven motorcyclists and pillion riders died in 2022, three fewer than in 2021.
A number of fatal accidents have been reported in 2023. On Feb 20, a newly married couple were on the Tampines Expressway, heading towards the Pan-Island Expressway, when their motorbike collided with a minibus.
The wife died, while the husband suffered serious injuries. The minibus driver was arrested for careless driving causing death. Another motorcyclist in the collision was uninjured.
On March 5, a food delivery rider died after a collision involving his motorbike and two other cars at the junction of Hougang Avenue 8 and Hougang Avenue 4.
Witnesses saw people shielding the motorcyclist from the rain with umbrellas as others offered first aid.
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