LTA to change traffic light timings at Ferrari crash junction

SINGAPORE - The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Monday evening that it would synchronise the timings of the traffic lights where two accidents occurred within a span of just two weeks.

A local news source reported that the traffic signals at the junction of Rochor Road and Victoria Street and the pedestrian crossing linking Bugis Junction and Bugis Village will now turn green at about the same time.

LTA said it was just an "added precautionary measure".

While LTA said it was implementing the change based on feedback from the public, it found no issues with the existing traffic scheme at the location.
 
The call for improvment to the traffic signals at the junction of Rochor Road and Victoria Street came in the wake of two accidents which claimed the lives of three and three others injured. 

The first accident on May 12 involved a speeding Ferrari, while the second accident on May 26 involved a Lexus. Both cars crashed into taxis.

Both accidents happened in the wee hours on a Saturday and involved cars travelling in the same direction.

Suggesting one theory on how the accidents might have happened is Dr Lee Der-Horng, associate professor of civil engineering at the National University of Singapore, who said the timing of the traffic signals might have been a factor in the accidents.

"One possibility is at the pedestrian crossing, maybe the driver tried to beat the yellow signal. 
"So after he travelled the 50, 60 metres, when he reached the major intersection, the traffic signal already turned to red," he said.

Dr Lee feels that the intersection is actually satisfactory from the safety's point of view.
But added that perhaps, overhead traffic lights would give drivers a better view of the signal.

After careful evaluation of the traffic signal configuration, LTA found that the traffic lights at the junction are distinct and can be clearly seen by the driver, whichever lane they are driving on.

LTA had deployed its traffic engineers to drive through the junction of Victoria Street and Rochor Road during the day and in the middle of the night to film the line of sight from a driver's perspective.

 "The traffic planning engineers have conducted a careful evaluation of the traffic signal configuration, and assessed that there are no issues with the existing traffic scheme at that location," LTA said.
The Singapore Road Safety Council also weighed in and said it will consider the need to tighten specific road safety measures, after police investigations into the two accidents are completed.