Singapore road safety facts

The toll in numbers

Deaths rose every year from 2022 to 2025: 108 in 2022, 136 in 2023, 142 in 2024 and 149 in 2025. There were 7,560 injury accidents in 2025.

The first half of 2026 brought some relief: 61 people killed, down 22.8% on the same months of 2025, mostly because fewer motorcyclists died. The rest did not improve. Injury accidents kept rising, and accidents involving elderly pedestrians rose 19%, so the police still call the situation worrying.

Who is most at risk

Motorcycles make up only about 15% of Singapore's vehicle population, yet riders and pillion passengers account for roughly 55% of all traffic accidents and 53% of deaths in 2025.

Seniors are about 12.9% of the population, yet in 2025 a senior was involved in 75% of the fatal accidents involving pedestrians, and those accidents more than doubled, from 11 to 27. Among people killed while jaywalking, more than 8 in 10 were elderly. It is why the game keeps telling you to slow down near old folks.

Drink driving

Police arrested 1,716 people for drink driving in 2025, and drink driving caused 12 fatal accidents, the same as the year before. Singapore is cutting its drink-drive limits for the first time since 1985: from 35 to 15 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath, and from 80 to 30 milligrams per 100ml of blood, in line with Japan and South Korea. Parliament passed the change in August 2026, and the date it takes effect has not been announced yet. Once it is in force, even one or two drinks could put a driver over the limit.

A first conviction under section 67 of the Road Traffic Act carries a fine of $2,000 to $10,000, up to 12 months in jail, and a ban from driving for at least two years. Kill or seriously injure someone while over the limit and it is a far longer jail term and a far longer ban. The only safe amount of alcohol before driving is none.

Red lights, speeding and phones

Running a red light costs $400 and 12 demerit points, and junction crashes are among the most violent on the road. Speeding was linked to 41 fatal accidents in 2025; enforcement caught 253,550 speeding violations, up 25.9%, and speeding accidents fell as the cameras went up. Average-speed cameras now time vehicles over a whole stretch, so braking just at the camera no longer works. Using a handheld phone while driving costs $400 and 12 demerit points, and in court a first offence can mean up to $1,000 and six months in jail. From 1 January 2027, the worst speeding offences carry 18 demerit points instead of 24, because 18 points becomes the line at which a licence is first suspended.

The rules that save lives

• Silver Zones work. These slower-speed areas in estates with many seniors have cut the accident rate among senior pedestrians in them by about 80%. Speed limits drop to 40km/h (sometimes 30km/h) in School and Silver Zones, and since July 2021 the offences that put pedestrians at risk there (speeding, running a red light, using a phone, not giving way at a crossing) carry 2 more demerit points and $100 more.
• Keep your distance. Leave at least a 2 to 3 second gap to the car in front, and more in the rain.
• Buckle up every child. Any child under 1.35m tall must ride in a proper child seat or booster. Skipping it costs $150 and 3 demerit points, and an adult belt alone can injure a small child in a crash.
• Ride and cycle within the rules. E-scooters have been banned from every footpath since 5 November 2019 and may only use cycling paths and park connectors, at up to 25km/h; a bicycle on a footpath is limited to 10km/h. On-road cycling groups are limited to 5 bicycles in single file or 10 riders two abreast.
• Use the crossing. Crossing within 50 metres of a pedestrian crossing without using it is jaywalking, with a fine on the spot and up to $1,000 on first conviction.
• Stop and help. After any accident you must stop, render assistance, and report within 24 hours. Fleeing an accident that kills or seriously injures someone carries up to a $3,000 fine and 12 months in jail on a first conviction, under section 84 of the Road Traffic Act.

Reaction time and stopping distance

This is the real idea inside the game's Tailgate Champion mode. Stopping is two distances added together: the reaction distance, travelled between seeing a hazard and your foot starting to brake, and then the braking distance, once the brakes bite.

An alert driver expecting to brake reacts in around 1.5 seconds on average; road-design standards use 2.5 seconds because that covers almost every driver, including the surprised ones. At 90km/h you cover 25 metres every second, so even a sharp 1.5-second reaction is about 37 metres travelled before you have slowed at all. That is why the two-second rule exists, and why tailgating is a bet against your own reflexes that you cannot win. Leave the gap.

In the game, ramming a bus is worth points. On the road, the cheapest safety upgrades ever invented are a seat belt, a slower speed, and your full attention. Drive safely in real life, lah.

Sources

• Singapore Police Force, Annual Road Traffic Situation 2024 and 2025 reports (police.gov.sg), released February 2026: fatality and injury counts, accident causes, motorcyclist and elderly-pedestrian shares, speeding and drink-driving enforcement figures.
• Singapore Police Force, Mid-Year Road Traffic Situation 2026 (police.gov.sg), released August 2026: deaths and injury accidents in the first half of 2026.
• Ministry of Home Affairs, parliamentary statement of 27 February 2026, and the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill passed on 4 August 2026: lower breath and blood alcohol limits.
• Ministry of Home Affairs, composition fines and demerit points for handheld phone use and for offences in School and Silver Zones (mha.gov.sg, June 2021); Singapore Police Force, tightening of the Driver Improvement Points System from 1 January 2027 (July 2026).
• Road Traffic Act 1961, sections 67 (drink driving) and 84 (duties after an accident), Singapore Statutes Online (sso.agc.gov.sg).
• Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Wearing of Seat Belts) Rules 2011: child-restraint requirement below 1.35m.
• Road Traffic (Pedestrian Crossings) Rules: crossing within 50m of a pedestrian crossing.
• Land Transport Authority and Ministry of Transport: Silver Zone results (about 80% fewer accidents involving senior pedestrians), School and Silver Zone speed limits, the e-scooter footpath ban of November 2019 and where each device may ride, on-road cycling group rules (lta.gov.sg, mot.gov.sg).
• US Federal Highway Administration, Speed Concepts Informational Guide, and AASHTO, A Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (the Green Book): driver perception-reaction time, the 1.5-second average for expected braking and the 2.5-second design value, and stopping distance as reaction distance plus braking distance (highways.dot.gov).

If you spot an outdated number, tell us at kopitiam.games@gmail.com.