Are Singaporeans becoming reckless road hogs?

Drivers in Singapore are continuing to engage in reckless driving behaviours due to poor time management and lack of route planning, says a survey.

The annual Road Safety Survey, commissioned by AXA Insurance Singapore and conducted by The Nielsen Company, polled over 600 private car owners, taxi drivers, motorcyclists and, for the first time, heavy and light goods vehicle drivers, with the intention of creating a more inclusive sample that represents road conditions in Singapore.

According to a release, a key finding from this year’s survey is that drivers in Singapore are continuing to engage in reckless driving behaviours, possibly due to poor time management and lack of route planning. In fact, respondents indicated going through amber lights, speeding at more than 10 kilometres above the limit and switching lanes without signalling as the three dangerous driving behaviours they committed most often.

Indeed, these findings reflect a rising trend of irresponsible driving behaviours and habits noticed on the roads.

When asked to rank a list of dangerous driving behaviours, respondents this year chose “driving after having more than the recommended alcohol intake” as the most dangerous, followed by “answering the phone without a hands-free kit or text messaging while driving” in second place. Both these behaviours have consistently ranked first and second in the last two AXA Road Safety surveys. Ranked third this year is tailgating, another behaviour that is symptomatic of impatient drivers.

However, while a majority of the drivers interviewed (86%) claimed to have never driven their vehicles after consuming more than the recommended alcohol intake for safe driving, one disturbing finding was that 41% of drivers admitted to having answered the phone without a hands-free kit or text messaging while driving, and as many admitted to tailgating.

When asked why they engaged in behaviours such as tailgating, an alarming 49% of drivers blamed the vehicle in front for “driving too slowly,” while 43% said they were rushing and 24% said they were trying to overtake the vehicle in front.

Chua Kim Soon, Principal Officer and Chief Executive Officer of AXA Insurance Singapore said, “Close analysis of the data shows us a worrying trend of reckless drivers who commit dangerous behaviours such as tailgating, speeding and failing to signal - all of which can lead to accidents involving serious injuries. With a notable increase over the past year in the number of bodily injury claims AXA has experienced, this is an area we are understandably concerned about. Motorists’ ready confession of tailgating, speeding or going through amber lights indicates a flagrant and reckless disregard of basic driving rules. It is important that motorists be made aware that such behaviours are dangerous, and can result in serious repercussions for themselves as well as other road users.”

Singapore’s Drivers Generally “Safe”, But Bikers Disagree
Despite this, the proportion of respondents who perceive drivers in Singapore to be quite safe or very safe increased significantly to 65% this year, from 56% in 2010. It is worthy to note however, that 27% of respondents polled said that they feel that Singapore’s roads are quite unsafe or very unsafe, compared to only 13% in 2009.

Of all vehicle segments polled, the proportion of motorcyclists who view roads in Singapore as being safe has declined from 71% to 63% since 2010, perhaps owing to the fact that their vehicle type leaves them feeling more vulnerable and exposed to risks and other motorists’ dangerous driving behaviours.

The Perceived Culprits of Dangerous Driving
Ironically, this year’s findings also showed that 86% of drivers polled felt that motorcyclists pose a danger to road safety, with at least 81% of each vehicle segment interviewed agreeing to this premise. The top dangerous behaviours that respondents observed of motorcyclists were reckless riding, riding in between two lanes and riding very closely to other vehicles.

In addition, taxi drivers were also perceived as being dangerous drivers, with 79% of respondents attesting to this. This finding remains largely unchanged from the previous year with respondents citing reckless or careless driving, failing to signal when changing lanes, and driving very closely to other vehicles as behaviours they have observed of taxi drivers.

Pet Peeve Today, Disaster Tomorrow?
Findings in the survey’s new category on road courtesy showed that the perceived rising trend of recklessness is also demonstrated by discourteous driving behaviours seen on our roads.

When respondents were asked to rank discourteous driving behaviours in order of annoyance, honking unnecessarily emerged as their top pet peeve; followed by road hogging; flashing of lights unnecessarily; trying to get ahead of queues, and not observing traffic rules pertaining to the yellow box.

These findings reinforce the point that drivers generally engage in such behaviours because they are impatient or in a hurry. Honking and flashing of lights unnecessarily are likely due to drivers being impatient, while trying to get ahead of queues and not observing rules pertaining to the yellow box can be attributed to drivers who may be in a rush – reflecting a similar lack of planning and preparation.

“Through the in-depth analysis of the findings from this year’s survey, we have found that though a significantly larger proportion of drivers polled (65%) perceive their fellow drivers to be safe compared to the previous year, and a majority (73%) perceive roads in Singapore to be safe, drivers are still seen to be engaging in dangerous driving behaviours, possibly arising as a result of poor time management. This has illuminated a new area of concern for road users in general.” said Grace Liu, Head of Consumer Research at The Nielsen Company.

These findings reflect a genuine need to heighten awareness of safe driving behaviours, focusing on practices of route planning and time management. Commander of Traffic Police, Assistant Commissioner of Police Cheang Keng Keong said, “The overall fatal and injury accident statistics have seen an improvement of 5.2% - a drop of about 220 accidents in the first half of 2011 as compared to the first half of 2010. While this is very positive, improving road safety continues to be a shared responsibility and community effort. We note that AXA has been conducting this annual survey since 2009 as part of their social responsibility and we laud their efforts in promoting road safety awareness. Together, we hope to keep our roads safe and friendly for all its users.”