PUBLISHED ONAugust 04, 2026 8:20 AMBYSean LerRoad accidents can lead to serious and irreversible consequences for victims and their families, but are entirely preventable, said Second Minister for Home Affairs Sim Ann on Tuesday (Aug 4).
"Our accident rate and fatality numbers need to come down," she said at the Second Reading of the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill in Parliament.
In 2025, Singapore saw a record high of 149 fatalities, or at least one death every two days.
With road safety remaining a key priority for the Ministry of Home Affairs, Sim stated that the proposed amendments will strengthen accountability for the most egregious road conduct.
It will also deter driving under influence of alcohol or drugs, and enhance the traffic police's (TP) ability to detect and enforce traffic enforces, she said.
The Bill introduces a new offence of purposeful endangerment, which deals with a motorist who deliberately endangers another person using a vehicle and causing death.
Currently, the most serious charge the offender could face is dangerous driving causing death, which comes with a jail term of eight years for first-time offenders.
She noted that in the case of Jarrett Tee Lee Kiat, the 30-year-old was sentenced to five years and eight months' jail in June last year for causing the death of an 18-year-old pillion rider.
Tee had deliberately swerved his car to cut off the motorcycle — and prior to doing so, told his passengers: "Do you want to see motorcycle fly?"
And despite the prosecution describing the case as "one of the worst examples of dangerous driving possible", with his culpability considered as "on the extreme end of high", Tee could only be charged with dangerous driving causing death.
"The Government's view is that such conduct must face harsher consequences," Sim stated, noting that the existing Road Traffic Act does not adequately distinguish between purposeful endangerment and dangerous driving.
@asiaone The most egregious road conduct must be met with sufficiently severe consequences, and that includes introducing a new offence of purposeful endangerment. Second Minister for Home Affairs Sim Ann was speaking during a parliamentary debate on Tuesday (Aug 4) about proposed laws to deal with worsening road safety. #sgnews #Singapore #Parliament #RoadSafety #Driving ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
Then, there is the challenge of proving that such conduct fulfilled the mental elements required for more serious Penal Code offences such as murder and culpable homicide.
Under the proposed new offence, offenders could face jail of up to 15 years, discretionary caning and a fine.
The court must also impose driving disqualification for life, unless there are special reasons not to do so; and if special reasons apply, the court must impose at least 10 years of disqualification.
It may also order the forfeiture of the vehicle used in the commission of the offence.
Another proposed amendment is the reduction of alcohol limits in a driver's breath from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml to 15 micrograms, while blood alcohol level limits will be reduced from 80 milligrams per 100ml to 30 milligrams.
To streamline the enforcement process, the Bill also proposes to remove the need for TP to administer a preliminary breath test.
Currently, upon suspicion of drink driving, an officer administers a preliminary breath test at the roadside.
If the result is positive, the driver is arrested and taken to the police lockup, where an evidential-grade breath test is administered.
In September last year, AsiaOne was among the media to observe TP's trial of a handheld breath evidential analyser, which produces accurate readings that can be used as evidence in court.
Such breath evidential analysers are known to conform to international standards.
If the Bill is passed, TP can conduct drink driving enforcement operations more efficiently without having to take the driver to the lockup, Sim said.
@asiaone The handheld breath evidential analyser (HBEA), currently being trialled by the Traffic Police (TP), was used at an anti-drink driving operation along Upper Cross Street on Saturday morning (Sept 20). 2 motorists were arrested after their breath alcohol content exceeded the legal limit. #sgnews #Singapore #Police #DUI ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
As part of the ongoing efforts to leverage technology to scale up enforcement, the Bill also proposes to allow the use of a computer program to assess whether there is sufficient evidence that an offence has been committed.
If found to be so, a notice is automatically issued to the offending motorist to provide particulars at the time of the alleged offence.
The second minister said that this will enable TP to significantly scale up enforcement, by using video analytics in traffic enforcement cameras.
Since March 2025, TP have been trialling the use of Traffic Violation Enforcement Cameras (TVECs).
TVECs use video analytics and automatic number plate recognition technology to detect and capture selected traffic offences in real time.
They are capable of detecting movement patterns and identifying violations such as crossing double white lines, running red light, violations of directional signs, and stopping in yellow boxes — enforcement of which are currently done manually.
@asiaone ? Look carefully. No, these are not mere mobile speed cameras. These are Traffic Police’s new Traffic Violation Enforcement Cameras (TVECs) under trial. Equipped with advanced video analytics, they can detect traffic offences - crossing double white lines, stopping in yellow boxes etc. - in real time to enhance enforcement and improve road safety islandwide. #sgnews #Singapore #Police #Road #Traffic ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
When a vehicle performs an illegal action, the analytics will trigger an automatic image or video capture to record key details, including the plate number, time stamp, and violation type.
During the trial phase, violations detected did not result in penalties. But the nine deployed TVECs detected 67,000 cases of traffic violations between April 2025 and February this year.
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