Spate of taxi crashes not due to mechanical fault, according to LTA

Human error the likely culprit?

Jonathan Lim | September 27, 2016, 12:20 PM

There have been a string of taxi crashes in recent memory caught on dashboard cameras, and Mothership.sg reported previously in April that some people have attributed them to a phenomenon known as sudden unintended acceleration (SUA) syndrome.

SUA supposedly happens when a car accelerates suddenly uncontrollably. Over 400 cases have been reported in South Korea between 2010 and 2014.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has come out to announce that after four months of investigation, they have found no evidence of mechanical faults that led to recent taxi crashes in Singapore.

Here are two videos of taxi crashes where some netizens are claiming could be due to sudden unintended acceleration:

In the second video involving the yellow CityCab taxi, the driver was sacked.

According to The Straits Times, "up to a dozen suspicious taxi crashes" were investigated and "most" drivers involved "eventually admitted" that they stepped on the accelerator instead of the brakes.

Just over the weekend, a Trans-Cab taxi hit a 69-year-old valet at Marina Bay Sands. The incident was caught on dashboard camera footage which had gone viral (viewer discretion is advised):

The valet is hospitalised at the moment. Trans-Cab General Manager Jasmine Tan told ST that "the driver said he did not know how the accident happened, and claimed he was in fact stepping on the brakes."

 

Related articles:

Were Hyundai Sonata taxi accidents in S’pore a result of sudden unintended acceleration?

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