With approximately 145,000 motorcyclists in Singapore, the Traffic Police wants to do more to reach out to this group of road users

Photos courtesy of Traffic Police

Almost 80 road users came together at the Singapore Ride Safe 2015 dialogue session, organised by the Traffic Police and the Singapore Road Safety Council (SRSC). The participants consisted of members from motorcycle interest groups, driving schools, taxi and commercial transportation companies and members of the media. This dialogue session is also part of the Use Your RoadSense initiative that was launched by the Traffic Police in April this year.

Into its ninth year, some of the topics brought up during the dialogue included shared responsibilities of all road users and gathering thoughts for building a better road culture in Singapore.

In his opening speech, Traffic Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Sam Tee said, "Motorcyclists have always been an important group to the Traffic Police. With this year's Ride Safe, we a re adopting a fresh approach to engage with the riding community on a deeper and more personable level."

The main focus though is the attitudes and behaviours of motorcyclists, road safety ownership and how other road users can look out for motorcyclists; this group of motorists are after all the most vulnerable on the roads. Outstanding topics raised include the dilemma whether lane-splitting should be recognised or considered reckless riding, and whether it should be made mandatory for all motorcyclists to be properly attired - safety jackets with long pants, and proper helmets - before they get on their bikes.

Concluding the dialogue, AC Sam said "While Traffic Police continues with our enforcement, education and engagements efforts, road safety is still a shared responsibility."

He continued, "We all need to play a part in keeping our roads safe. We can always measure the statistics and number of accidents, but we can never measure the anguish and pain affected families feel."

Last year alone, 74 motorcyclists lost their lives on our roads with more than 270 left seriously injured. And in another statistic released by AC Sam, 40 percent of accidents were caused by motorcyclists themselves (e.g skid, lost control), another 40 percent by other road users (bigger vehicles failing to keep a lookout for motorcyclists) while the remaining 20 percent consisted of varying factors. The Traffic Police are planning for more dialogues and engagement programmes with other road user groups. The public are also invited to take part in conversations online at the Use Your RoadSense Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/roadsense.sg

As we all share the roads, the Burnpavement.com team would like to take this opportunity to urge all driving enthusiasts to practice safety while on the roads and to always keep a look out for vulnerable road users.