Amendments to the Road Traffic Act and Road Vehicles (Special Powers) Act in the Land Transport and Related Matters Bill

1. The Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) introduced the Land Transport and Related Matters Bill (the “ Bill ”) for first reading in Parliament on 12 January 2026. MHA is proposing amendments to the Road Traffic Act (“ RTA ”) and Road Vehicles (Special Powers) Act (“ RVSPA ”) in this Bill.

Key Amendments Proposed by MHA

Introduce New Speed Limiter Offences

2. The Traffic Police (TP) require the mandatory installation of speed limiters for all lorries with a Maximum Laden Weight (MLW) of between 3,501kg and 12,000kg by 1 July 2027. This reduces the risk of speeding-related accidents involving such vehicles by limiting their maximum speed to 60km/h. However, the current offences and penalties under the Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Speed Limiters) Rules (“ Speed Limiter Rules ”) do not apply to all the actors that are responsible for speed limiter installation. The Bill therefore introduces new offences to strengthen accountability across all the parties involved:

(a) Introduce a duty for Authorised Agents to report suspected tampering : Authorised Agents who service or inspect speed limiters will be required to notify TP if they detect signs of tampering or non-compliance. Early reporting allows TP to investigate and remove non-compliant lorries from the roads promptly.

(b) Hold owners and drivers liable for knowingly permitting the use of a non-compliant lorry and tampering with installed speed limiters : Both owners and drivers bear responsibility for ensuring that speed limiters installed on their lorries have not been tampered with. While tampering with a speed limiter is already an offence, the amendments go further by holding persons accountable, not only for physically tampering with speed limiters, but also for instructing or permitting such tampering. In addition, drivers will be liable for operating non-compliant lorries, and it will be an offence for owners or fleet operators to instruct or permit the use of non-compliant lorries.

(c) Prohibit offering, advertising, or carrying out unauthorised speed limiter services: This targets the upstream supply of tampering services, and reduces the availability of opportunities for tampering with speed limiters.

Increase Penalties for Speed Limiter Offences

3. Under the current Speed Limiter Rules, lorry owners who fail to install an approved speed limiter or comply with the approved speed limiter requirements may be fined up to $1,000 for a first conviction, and up to $2,000 for a second or subsequent conviction. These penalties are not commensurate with the high road safety risks associated with operating non-compliant lorries.

4. MHA will increase the penalties for existing offences under the Speed Limiter Rules to better reflect the potential harm posed by non-compliant lorries and strengthen deterrence. The maximum fine will be raised to $10,000 and $20,000 respectively for a first and second conviction. These changes will align the penalties of speed limiter offences with other motor vehicle modification-related offences under the RTA.

Other Amendments Proposed by MHA

5. The Bill also introduces several amendments to clarify existing provisions, streamline operational workflows, and ensure that our road traffic laws keep pace with operational needs:

(a) Clarifying Mandatory Disqualification Periods as Baselines : The Bill clarifies that the mandatory disqualification periods in the RTA are simply the minimum disqualification periods which the Courts can consider imposing, and are not meant to indicate deterministically the duration for which an offender will be disqualified from driving. The Courts can impose bans longer than the mandatory disqualification periods, including lifetime disqualification, depending on the severity of the case.

(b) Outsourcing Violation Processing : TP will be empowered to authorise trained civilian contractors to process traffic notices for camera-detected violations. This will enable TP to outsource the processing of straightforward cases, and hence free up resources to focus on more complex cases.

(c) Clarifying Interpretation of “Possession” Under Section 49 RTA : The amendment clarifies that Singapore Armed Forces (“SAF”) personnel with military driving licences may drive both SAF-owned and SAF-leased vehicles.

(d) Updating Forfeiture Framework under the RVSPA : The amendment will make vehicle forfeiture discretionary, instead of mandatory, in cases where the offender is not the vehicle owner and had used the vehicle without the owner’s consent.

6. Please refer to MOT’s press release on the amendments proposed by MOT under this Bill.