SINGAPORE — Forty-five traffic offences were committed within school zones in January, the first month that new rules, which penalise such errant motorists with an extra demerit point, were imposed.

Speeding was the top problem, making up 17 of the cases, according to figures revealed by the Traffic Police yesterday. A close second was careless driving (16), followed by beating the red light (11) and one case of inconsiderate driving, they added. The Traffic Police did not track figures for traffic offences specific to school zones prior to January.

When the media observed the traffic police conducting enforcement operations outside three school zones in the eastern part of Singapore, the two violations logged over three hours were also for speeding. Both motorists were caught along Upper East Coast Road outside Temasek Secondary School, travelling at about 20km/hr over the 50km/hr speed limit. Such offences usually carry a penalty of a fine of S$150 and seven demerit points.

Responding to the statistics for last month, Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC Gan Thiam Poh expressed concern over the numbers, pointing out that it represented more than one violation each day.

“Where public safety is concerned, there should be no compromise, even one case is too many,” said Mr Gan, who is also a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport.

He added that road safety, especially within school zones, was the top concern among his residents.

The new extra demerit point system came after road safety became a hot topic following the deaths of two young boys at a traffic junction near Dunman Secondary School. They were hit by cement-mixer truck driver Munir Mohd Naim, who was sentenced to two weeks’ jail last month.

No other traffic offences were detected yesterday during the enforcement blitz at the other school zones outside Temasek Primary School in Bedok and Punggol Green Primary School in Punggol.

Parents TODAY spoke to outside Temasek Primary School said the road would usually be lined with cars waiting to pick up students after school. The road was empty yesterday, however, which parents attributed to an enforcement officer standing nearby with a camcorder.

Said homemaker Alice Lee, 37: “It seems to have brought out the best behaviour in some parents.”