SINGAPORE \u2013 As an elderly man jaywalked on Serangoon Avenue 3 on May 20, a yellow taxi approached him and he stopped in the middle of the road to avoid the vehicle as it went past.<\/p>\n
Just as he continued crossing the road, a motorcycle appeared and the man had to stop again as the bike almost hit him.<\/p>\n
An accident had been narrowly averted, but the incident could have ended tragically.<\/p>\n
Several elderly pedestrians The Straits Times spoke to said they knew it was dangerous to jaywalk but did so as it was faster than walking to the nearest pedestrian crossing.<\/p>\n
Singapore roads are at their most dangerous in years<\/span><\/a>, with traffic deaths hitting a 10-year high of 149 in 2025, compared with 141 in 2016. There were 142 deaths in 2024.<\/p>\n The number of people getting injured also rose from 9,342 in 2024 to 9,955 in 2025.<\/p>\n Given the dire situation on Singapore\u2019s roads, ST has been running a series of stories calling on all road users to be more careful.<\/p>\n The number of traffic accidents involving jaywalking elderly pedestrians increased from 95 in 2024 to 101 in 2025.<\/p>\n Of the cases in 2025, 15 were fatal. This was more than double the seven fatal cases in 2024.<\/p>\n The overall number of elderly folk who died in traffic accidents had also more than doubled from 11 in 2024 to 27 in 2025. All were pedestrians.<\/p>\n On June 6, the police said jaywalking includes crossing a road within 50m of a designated pedestrian crossing, underpass or overhead bridge, ignoring traffic-light signals and climbing over railings to get across the road.<\/p>\n Over several afternoons in May, ST observed elderly pedestrians ignoring signs and weaving through traffic in various parts of the island.<\/p>\n Some 22 elderly jaywalkers were spotted every half hour in Novena, 18 in Serangoon, 20 in Yishun, and three in Jurong East.<\/p>\n An elderly woman jaywalking on Irrawaddy Road in May. The number of elderly folk who died in accidents more than doubled from 11 in 2024 to 27 in 2025.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Many claimed they were breaking the law \u201csafely\u201d.<\/p>\n Standing next to a \u201cno jaywalking\u201d sign in Irrawaddy Road, an 85-year-old woman briskly crossed the four lanes between Mount Elizabeth Novena Hospital and Square 2 mall as several vehicles narrowly missed the retiree.<\/p>\n For this Novena resident, who wanted to be known only as Tan, jaywalking and dodging cars<\/span><\/a> is a daily routine. She told ST on May 28 that the nearest crossing 40m away was too far for her: \u201cI\u2019m lazy, you see. I don\u2019t want to walk.\u201d<\/p>\n A 73-year-old Yishun resident, who wanted to be known only as Tay, said the onus should be on drivers to not hit them.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cWe can see how near or far the vehicle is and so we do it safely. Drivers know there are a lot of elderly folk jaywalking and should be looking out for us instead.\u201d Asked why he takes the risk, Tay said: \u201cI\u2019m not afraid of anything at this age.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2023, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a car<\/span><\/a> when he crossed Aljunied Road while the pedestrian signal was red.<\/p>\n The state coroner said the man must have assumed it was safe to cross the road. He said the man could have seen jaywalkers crossing through his peripheral vision and decided to follow them when the accident happened.<\/p>\n There were 1,421 people caught jaywalking in 2025, and 1,591 in 2024. These numbers were significantly higher than the average of around 1,000 annually from 2021 to 2023.<\/p>\n Offenders are typically fined $50. But in more serious cases, they can be charged in court and jailed for up to three months and fined $1,000.<\/p>\n The maximum sentence is doubled for repeat offenders.<\/p>\n Teo Li-Tserng, director of the Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) Trauma Centre, noted that since 2024, nearly half of the injured pedestrians treated at TTSH were aged 65 and above.<\/p>\n The adjunct assistant professor said the elderly are more prone to bone and head injuries, with multiple rib fractures being common.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cTheir increased frailty and slower reaction times also mean they are less able to brace themselves, resulting in more severe and extensive injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n The Land Transport Authority has several initiatives to improve road safety for the elderly.<\/p>\n An elderly man jaywalking on Irrawaddy Road in May. In 2025, there were 15 fatal accidents involving elderly pedestrians who jaywalked.<\/p>\n ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n The Silver Zone Scheme, launched in 2014, has introduced measures at some 50 designated areas across Singapore, such as curvier roads, lower speed limits and wider dividers. The Green Man+ initiative, introduced in 2009, extends crossing times by three to 13 seconds for seniors when they tap their concession cards.<\/p>\n But for many seniors, ingrained habits and impatience override safety concerns.<\/p>\n A 77-year-old Jurong East resident, who wanted to be known only as Shio, said she believes she can outrun traffic. She said: \u201cI know it\u2019s risky, but I\u2019m impatient. I\u2019m still very fit and can run.\u201d<\/p>\n A police spokeswoman said jaywalking is a behavioural issue, with many having a false sense of safety.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cMany pedestrians jaywalk because they perceive it to be safe, assuming that the road is clear, that drivers will spot them in time, or that drivers will give way to them. This misplaced sense of safety makes jaywalking dangerous, as it only takes one moment of misjudgment by either the pedestrian or the driver for a serious accident to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n She added that enforcement alone has a limited effect, as pedestrians continue to jaywalk even though there are penalties.<\/p>\n She said there needs to be a change in mindset, and for the public to tell jaywalkers to use the proper crossings.<\/p>\n She said: \u201cSimple acts such as speaking up or leading by example can go a long way in fostering a culture of road safety. Road safety is a collective responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n SINGAPORE \u2013 As an elderly man jaywalked on Serangoon Avenue 3 on May 20, a yellow taxi approached him and he stopped in the middle…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58675","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58675","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/58676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/picture><\/div>
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