Channel NewsAsia 19 Feb 08;
SINGAPORE: Singapore's Automobile Association is looking into ways to improve road safety and reduce the environmental damage caused by vehicles.
This was the focus of a meeting held on Tuesday, attended by delegates from automobile associations around the region.
Singapore's AA said it would like to see more initiatives implemented for environmentally-friendly vehicles. This includes an increase in compressed natural gas or CNG refuelling stations and for them to be more easily accessible.
The AA is also working closely with the authorities to introduce a road assessment programme.
The system is in place in 30 countries worldwide, and serves to identify roads that are particularly dangerous.
Greg Hunting from the New Zealand Automobile Association, said: “What they do is examine the roads, look at the safety record and also the furniture on the roadside, what's safe and what's not.”
“They rate the roads with star ratings of 1-5. Now that's a benefit to our members and to motorists generally because they can see whether a road is very safe or not but it also helps governments prioritise where they invest in roads to make them safer,” he added.
Bernard Tay, President of the Automobile Association of Singapore, said: “Those that have a lot of accidents, the assessment will be reviewed by having specified vehicles going through it and experts will make recommendations to make changes to the road so it will be more safe for motorists to drive.” -CNA/vm
