Stiffer penalties. More cameras. Greater awareness campaigns. And yet...

What more can be done to tame potential killers who get a thrill out of speeding?

Movies such as The Fast & The Furious don't help. Such movies glorify fast cars and dangerous drivers, creating wannabes on Singapore roads.

Who suffers? Retired manager Lin De Chi is the latest victim here. Two cars allegedly in a race hit his Perodua so hard that it flipped on its side.

KNOCKED UNCONSCIOUS

Mr Lin, 65, was knocked unconscious while the culprits took off without stopping.

Mr Lin was lucky. He suffered only mild injuries to his head. He could have ended up like one of the eight hit-and-run victims who died last year.

When he regained consciousness, he crawled out of his car on his own and went to the hospital for a brain scan.

He was warded for 24 hours for observation.

Police have confirmed that a man in his mid-20s has been arrested for failing to render assistance in connection with this accident.

No further details are available because the police are still investigating.

Speaking from his bed in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Mr Lin said he was driving in the middle lane when he suddenly heard a loud crash.

Before he had time to react, his car was knocked on its side. He blacked out. "When I came to, I found myself still in the car, surrounded by broken glass.

Many people were outside the car, trying to pull me out," he said.

An eyewitness told him that two cars were moving at a high speed as though the drivers were racing. And it seemed one of them went out of control and hit Mr Lin's car.

Mr Lin said he had never been in such a serious car accident in his 30 years on the road.

This latest incident, which happened along Lornie Road towards Thomson Road at 4.30pm on Tuesday, highlights a disturbing trend of reckless drivers.

Last year, there were 66 speed-related fatal accidents, a 30 per cent jump from 2005.

The number of those killed or injured in drink-driving accidents also increased by almost 50 per cent to 361.

That's almost one person per day scarred by drink drivers.

All this despite a move for more speed cameras and stricter enforcement measures.

Traffic Police Commander Ng Guat Ting said in January that more speed cameras may be deployed in areas favoured by speedsters, such as Bukit Timah Road and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3. There are also as many as 800 traffic wardens compared with just 27 before 1999.

Although the police website does not have statistics to show the age of motorists who get into accidents, anecdotal evidence points to the involvement of young drivers who speed or drink.

Car workshop staff say speed modification is most popular with drivers below 40.

So what more can be done to check the drastic increase in accidents? Bar young drivers from driving fast cars?

"It may help,?said Mr Aman Aljunied, a senior executive at the Singapore Safety Driving Centre, ?but even small cars can go more than 120kmh with today's technology.

"Young people will be young people. Some have an attitude and like to show off, especially when they are with their friends."

He has had a few close calls with reckless drivers. What helps is his experience.

"Experienced drivers can read the road conditions better than new drivers. We react before a situation happens.

"New drivers react when something happens, but that can be too late.? Will confiscating cars deter errant young drivers in the same way that killer-litter offenders risk having their flats taken back by HDB?

If it can be done with a $200,000 flat, why not a $50,000 vehicle?

Currently, the penalty for reckless driving depends on whether the motorist is charged under the Road Traffic Act or the Penal Code. The penalties range from a fine to five years in jail.

However, lawyer Shashi Nathan does not think that changing the law will help.

"The law already has a sufficient range of offences and sentences to cover most scenarios. In cases where there is clear recklessness and the incident is more serious, the motorist can be charged under the Penal Code,said the lawyer with 14 years experience.

He gave the example of drink driving. Although second-time offenders have a mandatory jail sentence for drink-driving, many motorists still take the risk, he said.

Mr Shashi thinks education is key. Mr Aljunied thinks it is to have drivers understand the limits of their vehicles.

Mr Winson Ow, competition secretary for cars in the Singapore Motor Sports Association, thinks the problem lies in young drivers being over-confident of their cars.

He has seen the number of reckless drivers increase, because, he feels, cars are built to be faster now.

"But it is still important to know the car's limit. Many people go to Malaysia for circuit driving where there are proper grounds for speed safety training.

"It's not easy to get a proper venue in Singapore for that kind of training,? he said.

In his experience, drivers who race in appropriate venues are unlikely to join illegal racing groups on the roads.

Therein, perhaps, lies the solution: A controlled environment for thrillseekers to exercise their demons ?without endangering anyone but themselves.

Mr Aljunied agreed. Drivers can learn from mistakes when in a race circuit, he said.

"That's the difference between speed in a controlled environment as opposed to that on the roads. Basically there is no margin for error on the road.

If you can't take the danger out of the driver, is it perhaps more feasible to take the driver out of a dangerous situation?

Is such a circuit feasible and does Singapore have the space? Road safety has been deemed important enough to justify a Road Safety Park at East Coast.

Is it now time for a track where thrill-seekers can be educated about fast cars and furious outcomes?