Additional safety measures for migrant workers travelling in lorries against collisions caused by drink driving

Question:

Miss Rachel Ong: To ask the Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs in light of recent cases involving motorists allegedly driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, whether the Ministry will review whether (i) additional measures are needed to better protect migrant workers travelling in lorries from collisions caused by impaired drivers and (ii) existing safety measures remain adequate to minimise casualties.

Answer:

Mr K Shanmugam, Senior Minister, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs:

1. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs poses a serious risk to all road users, including workers travelling in lorries. The Ministry has introduced the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill for First Reading in July 2026, which proposes legislative amendments to lower the alcohol limits when driving and introduce a new offence for driving with controlled drugs, psychoactive substances, or intoxicating substances present in one’s blood. These measures are intended to deter motorists from such dangerous conduct.

2. Specific to improving the safety of workers travelling on lorries, the Government has also introduced measures in recent years to improve the safety of workers travelling on lorries, including requirements for employers to ensure sufficient rest time for drivers, and for drivers to have a “vehicle buddy” when ferrying workers. In addition, we will ban the ferrying of workers in caged lorries from 1 January 2027, and require all lorries with Maximum Laden Weight between 3,501kg and 12,000kg to install speed limiters by 1 July 2027.

3. The Government will continue to monitor trends and review our measures to improve road safety as necessary.