Road Traffic (Amendment No. 2) Bill

Bill No. 14/1984

Read the first time on 29th June 1984.

An Act to amend the Road Traffic Act (Chapter 92 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows:

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Road Traffic (Amendment No. 2) Act 1984 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 68

2. Section 68(3) of the Road Traffic Act is deleted and the following subsections substituted therefor:

“(3) Any person who promotes or takes part in any competition or trial of speed without the written approval of the Minister and any driver or person in charge of any vehicle used in or taking part in any such competition or trial of speed shall be guilty of an offence and shall be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months and shall also be punished with a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $2,000, and in the case of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months and with a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $3,000.

(4) Any police officer may arrest without warrant any person committing an offence under subsection (3) and may seize and detain for the purposes of proceedings under this Act any vehicle used in or taking part in any competition or trial of speed without the written approval of the Minister.

(5) A person convicted of an offence under subsection (3) shall, unless the court for any special reason thinks fit to order otherwise and without prejudice to the power of the court to order a longer period of disqualification, be disqualified for a period of not less than 12 months from the date of the conviction from holding or obtaining a driving licence.”.

New section 68A

3. The Road Traffic Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 68, the following section:

“Court to order forfeiture of vehicle

68A.—(1) Where it is proved to the satisfaction of a court that a vehicle has been used in the commission of an offence under section 68(3), and that the vehicle has been seized by the police, the court shall, on the written application of the Public Prosecutor, make an order for the forfeiture of the vehicle notwithstanding that no person may have been convicted of that offence.

(2) An order for the forfeiture or for the release of a vehicle liable to forfeiture under this section may be made by the court before which the prosecution with regard to an offence under section 68(3) has been or will be held.

(3) If there be no prosecution with regard to an offence under section 68(3), the vehicle seized under section 68(4) shall be forfeited at the expiry of one month from the date of the seizure unless a claim thereto is made before that date. Any person asserting that he is the owner of such vehicle may personally, or by his agent authorised in writing, give written notice to the Commissioner of Police that he claims the vehicle.

(4) Upon receipt of a notice under subsection (3), the Commissioner of Police may direct that the vehicle be released or may refer the matter by information to a Magistrate.

(5) The Magistrate shall, on receipt of an information under subsection (4), or on the written application of the Public Prosecutor, hold an inquiry and proceed to determine the matter and shall, on proof that the vehicle was used in the commission of an offence under section 68(3), order the vehicle to be forfeited, or may in the absence of such proof order its release.

(6) No person shall, in any proceedings in any court in respect of the seizure of any vehicle seized in exercise or the purported exercise of any power conferred under this section, be entitled to the costs of such proceedings or to any damages or other relief, other than an order for the return of the vehicle, unless the seizure was made without reasonable or probable cause.”.

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