Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Specific Periods for a Traffic Summons to be Issued to a Driver/Offender, by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law

Question

Mr Kwek Hian Chuan Henry: To ask the Minister for Home Affairs whether there is a specific period for a traffic summons to be issued to a driver/offender as in-car evidence or human recall of the incident may be lost after a certain period after the incident.

Answer:

1. Traffic Police, Land Transport Authority, Urban Redevelopment Authority and Housing Development Board issue traffic and parking summonses, only when there is strong evidence that the recipient has committed an offence.

2. In cases where the offender is the vehicle owner, he would be notified of the offence within a week.

3. In cases where the offender is not the vehicle owner, he would be notified of the offence within six weeks or so. More time is required, as the agency needs to establish his identity, based on the information provided by the vehicle owner and other relevant facts.

4. The above time norms may not apply, in scenarios where the offence was reported by members of the public without strong accompanying evidence. In such cases, the relevant agency will conduct an investigation to establish the facts of the case.