Response to TODAY Online Forum Letter on "To curb military vehicle accidents..."

SAF has stringent driver safety and vehicle maintenance systems in place

We thank Mr Jimmy Ho for his forum letter on 28 May 2012, "To curb military vehicle accidents..."

Safety is a top priority in the SAF. The SAF has a holistic system in place to train our transport operators and maintain our vehicles to meet our operational requirements. Servicemen who are selected to operate military vehicles undergo progressive training and stringent assessment during their driving course. The driving course covers both public roads and cross-country driving using specially designed circuits to ensure that servicemen are able to drive under various road conditions.

Our transport operator training syllabus and driving test standards are consistent with those defined by the Traffic Police. To further ensure the safety of our servicemen, our transport operators are deployed based on their military driving experience. The SAF also enforces rest management to ensure operators remain alert during training and operations. Safety is also reinforced through the dissemination of regular safety messages and alerts.

The stringent Preventive Maintenance Programme ensures that SAF vehicles are inspected and serviced quarterly by qualified technicians. The vehicles are also required to pass the Annual Vehicle Inspection (AVI) before they are allowed to travel on public roads. The passing criteria of the AVI are as prescribed by LTA, in line with those of commercial inspection centres such as STA and VICOM.

The SAF takes training safety seriously and will continue to identify areas for improvement.

Colonel Tan Peng Kuan
Commander, Combat Service Support Command
Singapore Armed Forces

MINDEF's reply was published as "Stringent driver safety, vehicle maintenance in place: SAF", TODAY Online, 04 Jun 12