Watch out for these accident-prone roads in Singapore

Many accidents have occurred on these 10 roads in Singapore. You need to read about them and be cautious to stay safe on the roads.

Not all roads are made the same. Various factors can make certain roads challenging to drive on. Elevation changes can shorten a driver's sight substantially, blocking other vehicles in front from view, while objects such as trees, shrubs and construction site barricades can also create blind spots in bends and turns on roads. These are all contributing factors to accidents that happen on a particular stretch of road.

Although not all accidents can be avoided, we believe the best way to minimise the possibility of getting into one is to stay sharp and be alert when driving.

Here are several roads, which have been known to be accident-prone, along with a few notable accidents that have occurred on them. As long as you keep your concentration up while driving through these spots, you will do just fine.

There was a chain collision at the junction of Alexandra Road and Leng Kee Road on 11^th August 2017, which involved three cars and a taxi. On 20^th March 2017, a motorcyclist was hit along Alexandra Road. Recently, on 15^th May this year, there was a chain collision involving two cars, a cyclist and a pedestrian along Alexandra Road.

In 2017 there were two incidents at Balestier Road, which were reported by various news outlets. On 17^th April, a woman was knocked down by a van when she was attempting to cross the road after getting out of her car. In July, an excavator that was ferried by a trailer crashed into an overhead pedestrian bridge.

Meanwhile in 2018, on 1^st March, a Foodpanda delivery rider had an accident with a car while travelling on Balestier Road, heading towards Thomson Road.

A car overturned in an accident involving two cars along Braddell Road on 2^nd March 2016. A taxi flipped on its side after an accident at Braddell Road on 26^th January 2017, and on 27^th September of the same year, a man suspected of drink driving crashed his car into a tree on the same road. This year, on 7^th February, a car mounted the kerb and crashed into a tree after colliding with a lorry while travelling on Braddell Road, heading towards Bishan Road.

Braddell Road tends to experience poor traffic condition, with slow-moving traffic during peak hours, and during the construction work on the Braddell Flyover in the recent years it was also especially prone to accidents and traffic congestion.

Various accidents had occurred on Bukit Timah Road. There were two notable incidents in 2017. On 7^th November, a car landed in the drain after hitting a pedestrian when the driver lost control. Meanwhile on 13^th December, a 67-year old woman was injured after accidentally driving her car into a drain.

On 22^nd April 2018, a woman died from her injuries after the car she was in collided with an SMRT Bus at a traffic junction in the vicinity, one of the three fatal accidents that happened on April this year.

According to LTA's website, construction work has been ongoing at Upper Bukit Timah Road since 2015 and would only be completed in 2019, which could be one of the reasons this area is prone to accidents.

One of the higher-profile accidents, which happened this year, on the 19^th of April, a 19-year old NUS undergraduate died from injuries after the taxi she was in collided with a car at the junction of Clementi Road and Commonwealth Avenue West. This accident occurred while the taxi was making a discretionary right turn at the junction (no green turning arrow), which brought the dangers of such traffic junctions to the centre stage.

Another road where construction work seems to have been going on forever, not only is Lornie Road often congested during peak hours, it is also a hot spot for accidents to occur. On the 5^th of July back in 2015, a cement truck collided with a car and caused massive traffic congestion along the road. Much more recently, on 1^st March 2017, two cars collided while one was making a U-turn along the busy road.

Lornie Road is also well known by drivers as a speed camera hotspot, so slowing down and staying alert here would potentially help you save your hard-earned money as well.

On 6^th January this year, the car a 48-year old man was driving collided with another at the junction of Toa Payoh Rise and Thomson Road. The accident blocked a part of the road and resulted in traffic congestion.

The junction that connects Thomson Road to Moulmein Road and Newton Road was identified as an accident 'black spot' and a red-amber-green arrow light has since been installed, which lowered the frequency of accidents occurring here substantially.

As with other roads on this list, Upper Serangoon Road is yet another hotspot for accidents to occur. There has been construction work on various sections of this road resulting in diversions and blind spots, and the high traffic flow it experiences also make the area much trickier to manoeuvre

There was an accident involving a car and a tow truck at the junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Bartley Road in June 2016, the tow truck was seen tipped over on its side.

A 27-year old motorcyclist died after losing control, falling off his vehicle and ran over by a tipper truck at Upper Thomson Road on 2^nd May 2017.

Construction works has been ongoing at parts of Upper Thomson Road for the Thomson Line, as such the area is more susceptible to accidents.

Another fatal accident, which occurred this year on 23^rd April, a 25-year old lorry driver lost control of his vehicle near Yio Chu Kang MRT, mounted a kerb, hit some railings and ploughed into several pedestrians, killing three of them.

These are roads where the most accidents have been recorded and there are various reasons for it, for one, many of these roads have ongoing construction work that often causes confusing diversions and blind spots, which makes it much more challenging for drivers to navigate through.

Certain types of traffic control system such as discretionary right turn junctions without green arrows might not work as well on roads where visibility of oncoming traffic is low, which can lead to accidents as well. The accident at Clementi Road, as mentioned above took place at such a junction, it was one of the accidents, which prompted LTA to create plans to introduce red-amber-green right turn arrows at 1600 junctions in Singapore.

By staying alert and driving defensively, we will be able to lower the possibility of getting into accidents. Nonetheless, the very definition of an 'accident' is 'an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.' There will always be certain occasions where there is no way for us to escape unscathed, and when you do unfortunately meet with an accident, it will definitely be beneficial for you to have a comprehensive insurance policy that keeps you well protected on your daily commute.