Road accidents, casualties rise in first half of 2026
Traffic accidents resulting in injuries or deaths rose 2.7 per cent compared with the same period last year, although fatal accidents and deaths declined.
A car is seen along South Bridge Road, near the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple, after a fatal traffic accident on Feb 6, 2026. (File photo: Facebook/ROADS.sg)
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SINGAPORE: Road traffic accidents and casualties rose in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025, continuing an upward trend over the past three years, the police said in their mid-year traffic report on Friday (Aug 28).
Traffic accidents resulting in injuries or deaths rose by 2.7 per cent to 3,929 in the first half of 2026, up from 3,826 in the first six months of 2025. The total number of road casualties increased by 3.6 per cent from 4,973 to 5,151.
The police noted that there were fewer fatal accidents and deaths during the first half of this year compared to the corresponding period in 2025.
There were 60 such accidents in the first six months of 2026, down from 78, while deaths fell from 79 to 61. The police largely attributed the 22.8 per cent drop to fewer fatalities among motorcyclists and pillion riders.
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However, they cautioned that the overall traffic situation remains concerning.
“While fatal accidents and fatalities decreased in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, the longer-term trend remains worrying,” the police said.
The number of traffic fatalities has risen since 2020, from 83 that year to a 10-year high of 149 fatalities on the roads in 2025.
The police noted that elderly pedestrians, motorcyclists and pillion riders remain the most vulnerable road user groups.
Traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians and motorcyclists increased in the first half of this year by 19 per cent and 4.3 per cent, respectively.
All three groups also remain “over-represented” in traffic deaths, said the police.
“The traffic police will sustain enforcement, education and engagement efforts to improve road user behaviour and enhance road safety outcomes for all road users,” they added.
RISE IN ACCIDENTS CAUSING INJURIES
In the first half of 2026, the number of accidents resulting in injuries increased by 3.2 per cent to 3,869. This was up from 3,748 during the same period last year.
The number of injured persons also rose from 4,894 to 5,090. In particular, the number of elderly pedestrians injured in accidents increased by almost 25 per cent, rising from 106 to 132.
The police noted that of the 132 cases, 38.9 per cent involved elderly pedestrians who engaged in unsafe pedestrian behaviour, including jaywalking and crossing outside of designated pedestrian crossings.
While elderly pedestrian fatalities fell by 40 per cent to nine in the first half of 2026, they accounted for half of all pedestrian fatalities.
The police said they will continue to strengthen public education efforts targeted at elderly road users, such as encouraging greater vigilance.
“However, family members, caregivers and friends also play an important role in reducing accidents by reminding and encouraging them to use designated pedestrian crossings,” they added.
MOTORCYCLISTS AND PILLION RIDERS
A total of 2,186 motorcyclists were involved in accidents in the first half of this year, as compared to 2,096 during the same period in 2025.
The number of injured motorcyclists and pillion riders also rose from 2,335 to 2,470.
At 55.6 per cent, motorcyclists and pillion riders were involved in more than half of all road accidents from January to June this year.
Motorcyclists and pillion riders remained the largest group of road users involved in fatal traffic accidents, and accounted for 45.9 per cent of all road deaths.
According to the police, the top three causes of accidents involving motorcyclists were failure to keep a proper lookout, failure to have proper control and failure to exercise due care when changing lanes.
They urged motorcyclists to wear protective gear, and adopt safe riding habits and comply with traffic rules.
SPEEDING VIOLATIONS
More speeding violations were also recorded in the first half of 2026.
There were 126,976 speeding violations during this period, up 6.1 per cent increase from the first six months of 2025.
“This may be attributed to enhanced enforcement operations and the activation of the speed enforcement function in more red-light cameras islandwide,” the police said.
Red-light running violations, however, declined by 31.7 per cent, and accidents involving such violations also fell from 106 to 102. Two of those accidents were fatal, compared to four in the first half of 2025.
The number of people arrested for drink-driving edged up to 888 in the first half of 2026, from 874 in the corresponding period last year.
However, drink-driving accidents fell by 8.1 per cent and related fatalities dropped by one to four.
ROAD SAFETY EFFORTS
As speeding remains a key road safety concern, the traffic police are trialling average speed enforcement on Singapore’s expressways, beginning with the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE).
This is being done through the progressive testing and calibration of the new Expressway Average Speed Enforcement system.
The system uses police cameras at the entry and exit of an enforcement zone on the expressway to detect and compute a vehicle’s average speed based on the distance travelled and time taken.
Vehicles that exceed the stipulated average speed limit will be flagged for speeding violations and no summons will be issued during the trial period.
More details will be furnished when the system is ready for operationalisation.
The police also noted that other measures had been rolled out, such as enhanced penalties for speeding and an expanded speed limiter regime for lorries, to curb errant road behaviour.
“While the decrease in fatal accidents and fatalities in the first half of 2026 is encouraging, the upward trend of road traffic accidents and casualties over the past few years is a stark reminder that much more needs to be done for road safety,” said traffic police commander Serene Chiu.
She added that road safety was a “shared responsibility” and all road users needed to play their part.
Source: CNA/rl(sn)
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