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Parking Places (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 34/1981

Read the first time on 22nd December 1981.

An Act to amend the Parking Places Act, 1974 (No. 5 of 1974).

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 Parking Places (Amendment) Act, 1981, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 2

2. Section 2 of the Parking Places Act, 1974 (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after the definition of “Authority”, the following definition: —

“ “driver” includes the person for the time being in charge or control of a vehicle, and “drive” shall be construed accordingly;”;

(b)

by inserting, immediately after the word “provisions” in the definition of “parking place”, the words “of section 3”; and

(c)

by deleting the word “ten” in the definition of “private parking place” and substituting the word “five”.

Amendment of section 3

3. Section 3 of the principal Act is amended —

(a)

by deleting paragraph (a) and substituting the following paragraphs: —

“(a)	utilise any land or premises which may lawfully be acquired or appropriated;
(b)	utilise any land or premises owned or occupied by any statutory body upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the Minister and the statutory body; or”; and

(b)

by re-lettering the existing paragraph (b) as paragraph (c).

Amendment of section 4

4. Section 4 of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after subsection (3), the following subsection: —

“(4) No licensee shall collect any fees or charges for the use of any private parking place unless the fees or charges have first been approved by the Superintendent.”.

New sections 13A and 13B

5. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 13, the following sections: —

“Liability of owner of vehicles for parking offences

13A.—(1) When a parking offence is committed, the person who at the time of the commission of the offence is the owner of the vehicle in respect of which the offence is committed shall be guilty of an offence under the rules made under this Act in all respects as if he were the actual offender guilty of the parking offence unless —

(a)	he satisfies the Superintendent that the vehicle was at the relevant time a stolen vehicle or a vehicle illegally taken or used; or
(b)	the court is satisfied that the vehicle was at the relevant time a stolen vehicle or a vehicle illegally taken or used.

(2) Nothing in this section shall affect the liability of the actual offender except that where a penalty has been imposed on or recovered from a person in relation to any parking offence no further penalty shall be imposed on or recovered from any other person in relation thereto.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (1), no owner of a vehicle shall by virtue of this section be guilty of an offence if he —

(a)	within seven days after service on him of a notice alleging that he has been guilty of such offence, furnishes by statutory declaration to the Superintendent the name and address of the person who was in charge of the vehicle at all relevant times relating to the parking offence concerned;
(b)	satisfies the Superintendent that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained such name and address; or
(c)	satisfies the court that he did not know and could not with reasonable diligence have ascertained such name and address.

(4) A statutory declaration made under subsection (3) if produced in any proceedings against the person named therein and in respect of the parking offence concerned shall be prima facie evidence that such person was in charge of the vehicle at all relevant times relating to such parking offence.

(5) A statutory declaration which relates to more than one parking offence shall not be regarded as a statutory declaration under, or for the purposes of, subsection (3).

(6) In this section —

“owner”, in relation to a vehicle, includes —

(a)	every person who is the joint owner or part owner of the vehicle and any person who has the use of the vehicle under a hire-purchase agreement but not the lessor under any such agreement;
(b)	the person in whose name the vehicle is registered except where such person has sold or otherwise disposed of the vehicle and has complied with the provisions of the rules applicable to him in regard to such sale or disposal; and
(c)	in the case of a vehicle in respect of which a general licence is issued under section 12 of the Road Traffic Act (Cap. 92), the person to whom such general licence is issued;

“parking offence” means an offence of parking a vehicle or of causing or permitting a vehicle to stand, wait or be parked in contravention of any rules made under this Act.

Power to seize abandoned vehicles

13B.—(1) Where a vehicle has broken down or been permitted to remain at rest in a parking place in such a position or in such condition or in such circumstances as to appear to the Superintendent to have been abandoned without lawful authority, the Superintendent may remove the vehicle found in the parking place to a place of safety and the owner thereof shall pay all expenses incurred by the Superintendent in that behalf and all fines and charges imposed under this Act and the rules made thereunder in respect of such offence.

(2) When any vehicle is detained under this section, the Superintendent shall with all reasonable despatch give notice in writing to the owner (if the name and address of such owner are known to him) of the seizure and if such vehicle is not claimed by its owner within three months of the date of its detention, the Superintendent after giving one month’s notice in the Gazette of his intention so to do may sell by public auction or otherwise dispose of such vehicle. The proceeds of the sale or disposal of any such vehicle shall be applied in payment of any expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this section and thereafter shall be applied in payment of all charges and fines payable under this Act and the rules made thereunder and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the owner of the vehicle, or if not claimed by the owner of the vehicle within twelve months of the date of such sale or disposal shall be forfeited to the Authority.

(3) The Authority or the Superintendent shall not be liable for any damage to or loss of the vehicle or the contents thereof not caused wilfully or negligently by the Authority or the Superintendent or its or his servant or agent under subsections (1) and (2).”.

Repeal and re-enactment of section 16

6. Section 16 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor: —

“Payment of charges and fines

16. Subject to any agreement made between the Minister and any statutory body under section 3, all charges collected in any parking place under the provisions of this Act and all fines imposed for an offence under this Act or any rules made thereunder shall be paid into the funds of the Authority.”.

New section 17

7. The principal Act is amended —

(a)

by inserting, immediately after section 16, the following section: —

“Power to exempt any parking place

17. The Minister may exempt any private parking place or class of private parking places or any person or class of persons from the provisions of this Act or any rules made thereunder.”; and

(b)

by re-numbering the existing section 17 as section 18.