ROAD TRAFFIC (AMENDMENT) BILL

Order for Second Reading read. 3.53 p.m.

The Senior Minister of State for Communications (Mr Ong Teng Cheong): Mr Speaker, Sir, I beg to move, "That the Bill be now read a Second time."

Policy and procedural changes adopted in the past few years have necessitated amendments to be made to the present Road Traffic Act. The objective of the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill therefore is to streamline and update the present Act for the purposes of clarity.

New sections 7A to 7O in clause 9 have been introduced to give the authorities more power to tighten up the law in respect of collection of taxes. Section 7F seeks to impose a penalty of three times the amount of tax payable on a vehicle if any person is found guilty of intentionally evading tax payable on his vehicle. At present, there is no provision for the Court to recover unpaid vehicle licence fees or taxes due to the Registrar of Vehicles. Penalties in the form of fines imposed by the Court very often are less than the amounts due. Unrecovered fees and taxes amounted to $2.4 million as at 1st January 1977 despite the efforts made to collect them. Another $93,000 have been written off by Government since September 1975. The proposed amendment will, therefore, discourage persons from evading payment of vehicle licence fees or taxes.

There is no provision in the Road Traffic Act for a person who has been disqualified from driving to require him to surrender his driving licence to the Court or to the Registrar of Vehicles. Consequently, such persons who have been disqualified from driving continue to drive although it is an offence for them to do so. As there is no endorsement on the driving licence to indicate that they have been disqualified from driving, very often such persons manage to escape detection whenever they are spot-checked by Police Enforcement Officers. The amendment proposed by clause 16 of the Bill makes it mandatory for motorists who have been disqualified from driving to surrender their driving licences. This will ensure that only qualified drivers are allowed on our roads.

Under the present Road Traffic Act, a person being carried on a goods vehicle is not guilty of an offence if he disregards the advice of the driver or the owner of the vehicle concerning his own safety while being so carried. In cases of this nature, under the present Road Traffic Act, the driver is held guilty of an offence for carrying a passenger in a dangerous manner and in addition to punishment under section 77 of the Act, he is also penalised under the Road Traffic (Demerit Points) Rule. As this may not be fair to the driver of the owner, an amendment is proposed whereby the passenger or the person carried on the vehicle is also liable for the commission of the offence.

In April this year. Government announced that the use of seat belts in motor vehicles will be made compulsory. New sections have been provided in the Bill to empower the Minister to make rules in readiness for this event. This is found in clause 20. The Registrar of Vehicles will also be empowered to penalise any person who sells seat belts which are not of the approved type.

Clause 32 of the Bill seeks to repeal and re-enact section 72 of the principal Act to enable the Minister to make rules for the safety of pedestrians. The existing fine of up to $100 for such offenders is insufficient deterrent to motorists who do not give way at pedestrian crossings. Stiffer penalties will, therefore, have to be imposed on errant motorists who do not observe the rules. A fine of up to a maximum of $1,000 or a jail term up to three months will be imposed on first conviction. For a second and subsequent conviction, a fine of up to $2,000 or jail for a term not exceeding six months will be imposed.

To encourage the driver ownership of taxis, a provision has been made in the Bill to empower the Registrar of Vehicles to revoke taxi licences which are held by persons who are not licensed taxi drivers or taxi owners who have been found not to be driving their taxis regularly. A taxi driver who holds more than one taxi licence will have all but one of his licences revoked.

Sir, I beg to move.

Question put, and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read a Second time and committed to a Committee of the whole House.

The House immediately resolved itself into a Committee on the Bill. - [Mr Ong Teng Cheong].

Bill considered in Committee, reported without amendment, read a Third time and passed.