Kreetika Kumar 
The concerning trend of road fatalities and serious accidents involving full-driver license holders has raised alarm bells.
Land Transport Authority Analyst, Eceli Kalivetau, highlighted this while presenting during a public consultation, revealing a staggering total of 310 road fatalities over a five-year span.
Shockingly, 267 of these fatalities were attributed to individuals with full-driver licenses.
Kalivetau further underscored the gravity of the situation, noting that an average of 53 deaths per year were recorded in the past five years, with the highest toll in 2018.
She says these distressing statistics emphasize the pressing need for effective measures to enhance road safety and minimize accidents involving experienced drivers.
“The total number of fatalities recorded over the five-year period was 267, at an average of 53 deaths per year for the last five years. The total number of hospitalized patients was 876, an average of 175 hospitalizations per year for the last five years.”
Kalivetau says that given the trends for fatal and serious accidents, the LTA, in consultation with the general public and its stakeholders, proposes to undertake the necessary steps.
“The provisional driver license condition is further categorized into P One and P Two. The separation is for traffic infringement monitoring purposes. Each category will have special driver licensing conditions.”
The number of fatalities and hospitalizations is a cause for concern for the Land Transport Authority. Therefore, it proposes the concept of demerit points, which they believe will act as a deterrent for traffic-related offenses.
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