Press Releases
Commencement of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act
11 June 2025
1. The Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2025 (the “Act”) was passed by Parliament on 7 January 2025. The Act will:
(a) recalibrate the balance between deterrence and proportionality for road traffic offences; and
(b) enhance the powers to enforce against errant motorists.
2. The following provisions in the Act will come into effect on 12 June 2025.
Recalibrate Balance between Deterrence and Proportionality
3. To recalibrate the balance between deterrence and proportionality for road traffic offences, the Road Traffic Act has been amended in three ways.
4. First, the Courts will be given greater discretion to impose an appropriate sentence depending on the circumstances of the offence.
5. Specifically, the Act removes the mandatory minimum imprisonment term and mandatory minimum disqualification (“DQ”) period for first-time offenders of:
(a) Dangerous driving offences causing death or grievous hurt; and
(b) Careless driving offences causing death or grievous hurt.
6. The Act also lowers the mandatory minimum imprisonment terms for repeat offenders of:
(a) Dangerous driving offences causing death, from four years to two years’ imprisonment; and
(b) Dangerous driving offences causing grievous hurt, from two years to one year’s imprisonment.
7. There is no change to the maximum penalties for these offences. The Courts will have the flexibility to decide on the appropriate sentence in every case, and MHA expects egregious offenders to continue to be subject to stiff penalties. The amendments also do not change the stiff penalties that are currently imposed on offenders who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
8. Second, the Act will provide the Prosecution with full discretion to prefer the appropriate charge, depending on the circumstances of the offence. In particular, this amendment allows the Prosecution to proceed on a “hurt” charge even where “grievous hurt” is factually caused. This enables the Prosecution to take into account the nature of the injury caused, as well as any mitigating circumstances (e.g., whether other road users were partly responsible), when deciding the appropriate charge to prefer.
9. Third, the Act will adjust how a motorist’s track record will determine his or her classification as a “repeat offender” of a dangerous or careless driving offence. Being deemed as a “repeat offender” under the Act results in a higher maximum sentence that can be imposed on the motorist.
10. If the motorist has a record of speeding offences, a motorist will only be classified as a “repeat offender” under the Act if he satisfies all of the following criteria:
(a) The motorist had at least two prior speeding convictions in which he sped in excess of 40km/h of the road’s speed limit, or the vehicle’s speed limit; and
(b) At least two of the prior speeding convictions occurred within the past five years preceding the motorist’s current dangerous or careless driving offence.
11. Motorists who have any prior conviction for dangerous driving, careless driving or conducting illegal speed trials will continue to be classified as a “repeat offender” under the Act if they commit another dangerous or careless driving offence.
12. The Courts will continue to have the discretion to consider any prior speeding record (including past convictions and compounded offences) as an aggravating factor to impose a stiffer sentence for a motorist’s dangerous or careless driving offence. This is the case even if the motorist is not classified as a “repeat offender” by virtue of his previous speeding offences.
Strengthen Powers to Enforce Against Errant Motorists
13. To strengthen the Traffic Police’s (“TP”) immediate suspension powers, the Act has been amended to ensure that a motorist’s licence remains suspended until the conclusion of a motorist’s court matters, including the period before any appeal is concluded. [1] This will allow us to ensure that errant motorists can be kept off the roads.
Enhance TP’s Operational Efficiency
14. The Act also made several miscellaneous amendments to enhance TP’s operational efficiency:
(a) First, summons for offences which are not punishable with imprisonment can be served by email, provided the person on whom the summons is to be served had given prior written consent.
(b) Second, a police officer no longer needs to be specifically authorised by name in order to issue composition sums for offences under the RTA. Following the amendment, any police officer not below the rank of sergeant will be able to issue composition sums for offences under the RTA.
(c) Lastly, the School Crossing Patrols Act 1955 will be repealed. The Act is obsolete and its policy intent of ensuring safe school crossings has been met by other means.
15. The other provisions under the Act will be operationalised at a later date. For more information on the Act, please refer to the Annex .
16. MHA continues to be concerned about the road safety situation in Singapore. TP has intensified its enforcement efforts against egregious driving behaviour, including drink driving. We recently announced increases in the penalties for speeding offences and are reviewing other laws and policies to promote a culture of responsible driving and ensure sufficient penalties for offenders. We urge all road users to play their part. Together, we can make our roads safer for everyone.
[1] Today, TP can immediately suspend the driving licence of any motorist under specific circumstances. This suspension automatically lapses once the motorist is convicted and sentenced by the court on first instance, and the court-ordered disqualification (DQ) period, if any, will take effect accordingly. However, if the motorist appeals his conviction or sentence, the court-ordered DQ order is suspended. With no TP suspension order in place, the motorist can resume driving pending the determination of his appeal. Separately, if the court defers the DQ order to commence on a later date, the motorist can resume driving between the conclusion of his court matter and the commencement of his DQ order. These scenarios run contrary to the intent of keeping errant motorists off the road. The amended Act will close this gap and ensure that these motorists will not be able to resume driving in the abovementioned scenarios.
Annexes – Information on the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2025
1. First Reading of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill