Motorists Found Guilty of Road Rage & Individuals Involved in Illegal Racing May Face Harsher Penalties

By
Zhi Hao
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Road rage may sound cool on paper.

But it’s far from being so in reality.

The cause and incitation of many damning incidents, road rage has proven to be the downfall for many.

Thankfully, however, it appears that efforts are being made to curb it further.

The same goes for illegal racers and errant drivers too.

Motorists Found Guilty of Road Rage & Individuals Involved in Illegal Racing May Face Harsher Penalties

According to TODAYonline, new amendments have been proposed to the Road Traffic Act to discourage incidents of road rage, illegal racing and the errant use of electric bicycles.

Road Rage

Have a tendency to go rage mode on the roads? You may want to work on your anger management issues.

According to the news report, those found guilty of committing road rage may soon face an increased risk of disqualification from driving.

Currently, motorists can only face disqualification if they are found to have committed road rage and violated certain conditions. For instance, voluntarily causing hurt or death.

Should the amendments pass, the disqualification criteria would be expanded to include all offences under any written law that are committed in a road rage incident.

Illegal Racing

Meanwhile, illegal racers could soon face heavier fines and imprisonment terms.

Currently, first-time offenders are liable to face a jail term of up to six months and a fine of up to S$2,000.

With the changes, however, they may face a jail term of up to 12 months and a fine of up to S$5,000.

Uncooperative offenders could face a jail term of up to two years and a fine of up to S$10,000, up from the maximum 12 months’ imprisonment term and a fine of up to S$3,000.

So the next time you go fast and furious, just remember that your prison record is likely to go the same way too.

Impersonation Of Traffic Offenders

Fancy taking the bullet for your traffic-violating pal? Well, you may now be subjected to harsher punishments as well.

Under the amendments, those who opt to get punished on behalf of someone else, or guilty drivers who engage the “tanking” abilities of a third party, will be penalised duly.

Apart from possible disqualification from driving, they may also face up to 12 months’ jail, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both.

Safety

And it seems that safety will soon go both ways.

At present, only those whose who are caught without a certified-safe helmet are punished. With the amendments, however, motorcyclists who fail to ensure that their pillion riders have a certified-safe helmet on will also be penalised.

First-time offenders could face a jail term of up to three months, a fine of up to S$1,000, or both. Repeat offenders could face a jail term of up to six months, a fine of up to S$2,000, or both.

It should also be noted that there may soon be increased penalties for the importation or retailing of unapproved helmets.

Electric Bicycles

Currently, users of electric bicycles are required to pass a theory test to pilot on cycling paths.

With the amendments, however, they will need to pass a theory test for both path and road usage.

If they do not pass the test and take to the road, they will be committing an illegal offence.

Ifcompanies choose to employ such personnel and still send them out for errands, they will also be penalised.

Much Needed

These measures could well reduce the rate of traffic-related crimes, which have been rather prevalent of late.

One may also recall that infamous 2019 incident, wherein a Hyundai driver reportedly unleashed a flying fist to a Suzuki Swift driver’s face.

Hopefully, such instances would be gone from the roads, and will stay within the confines of a boxing, or wrestling ring.

Feature Image: admin_design / Shutterstock.com

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Zhi Hao
Email: [email protected]