Changes to Road Traffic Act WEF 1st Feb 2015

[Sp4wn]

FYI bros .. especially those who still use phone at the red light when vehicle is stationary. please note it is now illegal to do so without a mount.

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/transport/story/what-you-need-know-about-the-new-changes-the-road-traffic-act-feb-1-2

 

SINGAPORE - As of Feb 1, it will be illegal for drivers to hold any type of mobile device while driving. Previously, only calling or texting someone on a mobile phone was barred.

On Sept 8, 2014, changes to the Road Traffic Act were passed into law and a wider range of mobile devices, as well as heavier penalties for offenders, was added to the Act.

The changes were prompted by a 20 per cent rise in the past two years in the number of summonses for using a mobile phone while driving - from 2,938 in 2012 to 3,572 in 2013.

Here's what you need to know about the changes.

1. Mobile devices

Anyone caught using and holding a mobile device while driving can be found guilty of committing an offence. To be specific, mobile devices are any hand-held equipment which are designed or capable of being used for telecommunication. This means phones as well as tablets.

2. As long as you are using it, you can be charged

It is no longer just talking or texting that will get you in trouble. The new changes include surfing the web, visiting social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and downloading material. The law applies to using and holding a device while driving, including when the car is stationary at a red light.

3. Okay if the device is mounted

The amended law applies to drivers holding a device. It is not an offence to use the mobile device if it is mounted on a holder.

4. Penalties

First-time offenders can be fined up to $1,000 and/or jailed for up to six months. Repeat offenders face up to $2,000 in fines and/or up to 12 months in jail.

5. What about wearables?

Wearable technology such as the Google Glass and smart watches are not covered in the amended law. But the use of such devices could be classified as inconsiderate driving, an offence which carries up to a $1,000 fine and a six-month jail term.

Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Masagos Zulkifli commented on this during the amendment of the law in parliament on Sept 8, 2014, saying: "We will continue to monitor the situation... and study the practices of other jurisdictions as they evolve to deal with (new) types of smart devices."

Edited February 9, 2015 by Deeq

[Wattokkingu]

Wow, i din know the revised law covers for usage of mobile devices when vehicle is stopped. The weird thing is usage is allowed when device is on a mount, which i think is just as distracting to the driver.

[Jwee85]

Might be drafted for Taxi drivers, Ambulance drivers and Police drivers, etc.

 

Must the mount be rigid? Will a string tied to the phone considered as a mount?

 

Wow, i din know the revised law covers for usage of mobile devices when vehicle is stopped. The weird thing is usage is allowed when device is on a mount, which i think is just as distracting to the driver.

[Evillusion]

walkie-talkie counted as hand held device?

[Sp4wn]

Might be drafted for Taxi drivers, Ambulance drivers and Police drivers, etc.

 

Must the mount be rigid? Will a string tied to the phone considered as a mount?

 

 

actually, most cab drivers i see have mounts. in fact, they have mounts *everywhere*

[Mz3SP0907]

yup... mounts aplenty...

 

 

 

actually, most cab drivers i see have mounts. in fact, they have mounts *everywhere*

 

not sure but think so...

 

"mobile devices are any hand-held equipment which are designed or capable of being used for telecommunication"

 

hahaha

 

walkie-talkie counted as hand held device?

 

[Celicar]

I can hardly believe what I am reading.

 

From Feb 1, a driver who causes an accident with no eyewitnesses must leave a note with his particulars.

 

How on earth is that going to be enforced? If someone comes forward to accuse the driver of failing to leave a note, won't that someone then be considered an eyewitness and therefore the driver is not required by that particular law to leave a note?

[Magnifique]

whoever came up with e rules, is a simple minded person

[Zxcvb]

The message and the picture illustrated doesn't tally at all.

 

"The law applies to using and holding a device while driving, including when the car is stationary at a red light."

 

versus -

 

"From Feb 1, it will be illegal for a driver to hold and use a mobile device, including tablets, when the vehicle is moving."

 

 

[Acemundo]

I can hardly believe what I am reading.

 

From Feb 1, a driver who causes an accident with no eyewitnesses must leave a note with his particulars.

 

How on earth is that going to be enforced? If someone comes forward to accuse the driver of failing to leave a note, won't that someone then be considered an eyewitness and therefore the driver is not required by that particular law to leave a note?

haha people can just claim the note fly away as well. it might as well prescribe how to make the note stay in place.

[efssc]

Encountered a pick-up this morning on the expressway, I was on the first lane and he was before me on the second lane. He kept swaying in and out of my lane so I accelerated to pass him. And when I did that I managed to catch a glimpse inside the cabin; the driver was busying swiping away at a tablet placed against his steering wheel.

 

Yes, the pick-up driver is using a tablet placed against his steering wheel as he is driving on the second lane on the expressway, and going pretty fast too.

 

My first thought was, "if I can take out my phone and snap a picture of him doing what he's doing, I can send it to the authority and hopefully next time he won't do something so foolishly dangerous again, to both himself and other road users".

 

My second thought was, "if I take out my phone and snap a picture of him, I will get it as well".

 

Dilemma dilemma dilemma, though just for a split second. I drove pass and drove on.

 

Hope he stays safe and out of trouble.

 

[1fast1]

I can hardly believe what I am reading.

 

From Feb 1, a driver who causes an accident with no eyewitnesses must leave a note with his particulars.

 

How on earth is that going to be enforced? If someone comes forward to accuse the driver of failing to leave a note, won't that someone then be considered an eyewitness and therefore the driver is not required by that particular law to leave a note?

*Apparently* no eyewitnesses (including security cameras). In other words, if you don't leave a note, it's a heng-suay thing.

[Aaronlkl]

 

2. As long as you are using it, you can be charged

It is no longer just talking or texting that will get you in trouble. The new changes include surfing the web, visiting social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and downloading material. The law applies to using and holding a device while driving, including when the car is stationary at a red light.

 

Can't use the phone even when the vehicle is stationary on red is ridiculous! Then how? Find a lot, park the car, put parking coupon then call???

Edited January 28, 2015 by Aaronlkl

[Zxcvb]

I believe the main reason for the change in rules is simply the handphone is no longer a device used solely for calls and text messages. It has multi-function purpose like a torchlight, map, direction, internet, camera, video, alarm clock, newspaper, email, calculator, foreign exchange rate and many more.

 

Hence the law has to change to adapt to moving times. Else ppl can argue "I never make phone calls or text anybody, which rule states I break the law??" So now they make it illegal even if you're not using for text or call.

[Eyke]

 

Can't use the phone even when the vehicle is stationary on red is ridiculous! Then how? Find a lot, park the car, put parking coupon then call???

Mount, BT lor

[Gaolow]

Can't use the phone even when the vehicle is stationary on red is ridiculous! Then how? Find a lot, park the car, put parking coupon then call???

From the radio that takling about these new rules in the morning, was told that it need to fulfill the following in order to get fine

 

1. Car is moving

2. You holding the device

3. you using it

 

they mention that if the vehicle is stationary, it ok to use. Not sure how true is this...

 

But for the last rules about class 3C dose not make sense...only theory test and not driving test...

[1fast1]

Wow, i din know the revised law covers for usage of mobile devices when vehicle is stopped. The weird thing is usage is allowed when device is on a mount, which i think is just as distracting to the driver.

Well, if you disallow that, you might as well disallow *all* forms of telecommunications to cars in motion, which includes all those fancy bluetooth things many modern cars come equipped with.

 

The law should be about ensuring a driver keeps both hands free for vehicle control at all times. If one wants to start outlawing all people picking up calls while in motion, then they've basically put cabbies out of business, too. And people who work in many jobs need to take and make urgent calls - e.g. doctors. Come to think of it, why should in-car entertainment be allowed, since it is arguably distracting to the driver, too? Why not outlaw all passengers since they can talk or play around (especially kids)?

 

Let's not get carried away.

 

Now, having said that, I think the news blurb is poorly written. Why emphasise a mount? What if I have the phone in my pocket communicating wirelessly via bluetooth to my in-car audio? That satisfies the spirit, if not the letter, of the law, right? What if the phone is on the passenger seat with the same mode of communication? What if it's on the seat with the speaker button on (so the sound is emanating directly from the phone rather than from in-car audio)? Etc. etc.

Edited January 28, 2015 by Turboflat4

[Qpik]

whoever came up with e rules, is a simple minded person

 

aiyah MCF no need to mince words, u meant Kum Gong siboh?