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- Driving In Singapore may be more Dangerous than you thinks says a New Report
Driving in Singapore may be more dangerous than you think says a new report.

Did you know it may be more dangerous to drive in Singapore than many other developed countries?
The findings are based on a report being highlighted by Budget Direct Insurance.
Latest figures from Singapore Traffic Police show that road safety in Singapore is improving over time with a definite downward trend in fatalities since 2012.
A recent report by consumer researchers ValueChampion, however, reveals that although the number of fatalities per vehicle on the roads is decreasing, it is still relatively high.
In fact, motorists in Singapore may actually be driving more dangerously than those in other developed countries such as America, Japan, the UK and Canada.
Simon Birch, CEO of Budget Direct Insurance, says that as a car insurer in Singapore he wanted to highlight such road safety issues to the motoring community.
He said: “This report throws up some interesting facts that we should take seriously. I feel it is important for us as an insurer and a champion of safe driving to bring the findings of this report to people’s attention.”
Making sense of road safety statistics.
The basis for measuring road safety is usually done per capita. Using this measurement, Singapore has among the lowest road mortality rates per capita in the entire world. On the surface, therefore, Singapore motorists may seem to be safer drivers than those in other developed countries. But the number of households in Singapore that actually own a car is estimated to be less than half the population. The majority of the population, therefore, is less exposed to the risks of travel by motor vehicles and their chances of getting into a car accident are much lower. Singapore has nearly half the number of car owners than many other countries.
See the table below from ValueChampion.
Country |
Percent of Households that Own a Car in 2014 |
Singapore |
42% (2013) |
United States |
88% |
Korea |
83% |
Japan |
81% |
Malaysia |
82% |
Germany |
85% |
United Kingdom |
74% |
France |
83% |
Chart comparison taken from: https://www.valuechampion.sg/probability-car-accident
Statistics per capita tell one story
Singapore Traffic Police recently announced a decrease in the number of fatal accidents and fatalities, which is a continuation of a downward trend in fatalities since 2012.
In 2016, the fatality rate per 100,000 persons fell to 2.51, which is the lowest fatality rate since 1981. And using this measurement Singapore fairs well compared to the rest of the world.
In fact, Singapore had the 6th least number of fatalities per capita out of the 178 countries assessed by the World Health Organisation in 2013. Whilst these are impressive numbers and it’s good news that road fatalities are declining in Singapore it is still important to get a full picture.
Statistics per vehicle tell another story.
Using the fatality rate per vehicle measurement, Singapore fairs unfavorably compared to countries like the UK, the USA, Japan, Germany, Australia, and many others.
In 2015, there were 15.8 fatalities per 100,000 motor vehicles in Singapore. In the same year Japan faired much better at 5.3 fatalities per 100,000 vehicles.
The number of fatalities is almost three times higher in Singapore compared to that in Japan.
Commenting on these statistics, Simon Birch, CEO of Budget Direct Insurance, said: “We can never be complacent when it comes to road safety and these figures show that. At Budget Direct Insurance, we want to hammer the message home about safety. As a car insurer it is our duty to educate and inform motorists whenever we can. The Singapore Traffic Police are doing a great job and we support them whole-heartedly. But we must all do our bit in the fight to make our roads safer. And this report highlights that we all still have a long way to go to improve safety on our roads.”