Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill

Bill No. 37/1992

Read the first time on 16th November 1992.

An Act to amend the Road Traffic Act (Chapter 276 of the 1985 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) Act 1992 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

Amendment of section 43

2. Section 43 of the Road Traffic Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended by deleting subsection (3) and substituting the following subsections:

“(3) If any person who under the provisions of this Act is disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence applies for or obtains a driving licence while he is so disqualified, that person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 and a driving licence obtained by him shall be of no effect.

(3A) If any person who is disqualified as mentioned in subsection (3) drives on a road a motor vehicle or, if the disqualification is limited to the driving of a motor vehicle of a particular class or description, a motor vehicle of that class or description, that person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.

(3B) Where any person has been convicted of an offence under subsection (3A) and such conviction is a second or subsequent conviction and it is proved to the satisfaction of a court that a motor vehicle has been used in the commission of the offence, the court shall, on the application of the Public Prosecutor, make an order for the forfeiture of the motor vehicle except that the court shall not make an order for the forfeiture of the vehicle if the court is satisfied that —

(a)	the person who has committed the offence is not the owner of the vehicle; and
(b)	the person who has committed the offence had used the vehicle without the consent of the owner or where he had used the vehicle with the consent of the owner, that the owner had no knowledge of his disqualification under this Act from holding or obtaining a licence.

(3C) Any motor vehicle in respect of which there has been or there is reasonable cause to suspect that there has been committed an offence under subsection (3A) may be seized by any police officer or the Registrar or any officer authorised in writing by the Registrar.

(3D) If there be no prosecution with regard to an offence under subsection (3A), the vehicle seized pursuant to subsection (3C) shall be released at the expiration of one month from the date of seizure unless it has been earlier released.”.

New section 47E

3. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 47D, the following section:

“Penalties for offences under sections 47(5) and 47C(5)

47E. Any person who is guilty of an offence under section 47(5) or 47C (5) shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or to both and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years or to both.”.

New section 67A

4. The principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after section 67, the following section:

“Enhanced penalties for repeat offenders under sections 43(3A), 47(5), 47C(5), 64(1), 66(1) and 67(1)

67A.—(1) Where a person having been convicted on at least two previous occasions of an offence under section 43(3A), 47(5), 47C(5), 64(1), 66(1) or 67(1) is convicted of the same offence (such person shall be referred to in this section as a repeat offender), the court shall have the power to impose a punishment in excess of that prescribed for such conviction as follows:

(a)

where the court is satisfied, by reason of his previous convictions or his antecedents, that it is expedient for the protection of the public or with the view to the prevention of further commission of such offence that a punishment in excess of that prescribed for such a conviction should be awarded, then the court may punish such repeat offender with punishment not exceeding 3 times the amount of punishment to which he would otherwise have been liable for such a conviction provided that where imprisonment is imposed it shall not exceed 10 years; and

(b)

notwithstanding section 11 of the Criminal Procedure Code, if such repeat offender while committing the offence under section 43(3A), 47 (5), 47C(5), 64(1), 66(1) or 67(1) causes any serious injury or death to another person, the court may also punish him, subject to section 231 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cap. 68), with caning with not more than 6 strokes.

(2) In subsection (1), “serious injury” has the same meaning as in section 47D.

(3) A Magistrate’s Court or a District Court may, notwithstanding anything contained in the Criminal Procedure Code, award the full punishment prescribed by this section.”.

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