Debated in Parliament on 18 Aug 2015.
Dr Intan Azura Mokhtar asked the Minister for Transport in respect of foreign vehicles which have illegal modifications done to the vehicles or which have outstanding traffic, parking or ERP-related fines due, what are the measures taken to ensure (i) compliance with regulations governing vehicles and (ii) payment of such fines.
The Senior Minister of State for Transport (Mrs Josephine Teo) (for the Minister for Transport): Mdm Speaker, foreign vehicles that do not meet minimum standards as prescribed in the 1949 United Nations Convention on Road Traffic are liable to be fined or they would not be allowed to enter Singapore, depending on the type and degree of non-compliance. Enforcement is carried out at the checkpoints by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Drivers of foreign vehicles are notified of outstanding traffic, parking and Electronic Road Pricing (ERP)-related fines when they enter or exit Singapore at the land checkpoints. There are various electronic channels to facilitate payment, such as LTA's Onemotoring website, AXS kiosks and mobile application, iNETS kiosks and SingPost Self-help Automated Machines (SAM).
I thank the Senior Minister of State for the answer. While there is enforcement carried out, we still see foreign vehicles coming into Singapore that have, for example, very dark tinted screens or exhaust pipes which are really huge and make a lot of noise.
On top of that, there are foreign vehicles that have been seen by our residents that are parked illegally at the void decks or on the pathways. Even though they have been issued summonses, there is no way to track them here as they do not have a local address and it is difficult to get them to pay. While there are checks at the immigration checkpoints, would the Ministry consider stepping up enforcement to ensure payment of fines at the immigration checkpoints or even impose a re-entry ban on such vehicles that continue to flout our local traffic or parking laws?
Madam, I thank the Member for her supplementary question. It is, indeed, challenging to enforce against foreign vehicles, considering the fact that there are about 1.5 million foreign vehicle trips into Singapore every month. So, we also take a look at the severity of the problem. About 5,000 traffic, parking and ERP-related offences are issued a month, on average, or about 0.3% of the total number of visits a month. The vast majority of the foreign vehicles that enter Singapore do observe our traffic rules.
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Specific to the issues that the Member raised, I do recognise that there are localised problems. My suggestion is that we take this up separately. Enforcement against these vehicles is something that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) continues to do. But if we want to get to the root of the issue, we have to study the local conditions and take a closer look at who these perpetrators are and whether there is a way to trace them.
I want to give the Member the assurance that LTA takes its enforcement duties seriously. It is interested to ensure that when foreign vehicles do enter Singapore, they observe our traffic rules and that is why, at all of the land checkpoints, LTA enforcement officers are present. They engage these drivers and make a real effort to ensure that they are aware of their infractions and are issued the necessary summonses. This is an ongoing issue. It does not go away overnight, especially on occasions where we have long weekends and so on, the number of vehicles coming in could increase.
LTA would like to follow up with the Member, and I can say that on their behalf, to see what the local situations are like, so that we can also take more specific actions to deal with it at the local level.
Er Dr Lee Bee Wah, please keep it short. We only have one-and-a-half minutes.
Madam, I would like to ask the Senior Minister of State on the problem caused by foreign vehicles. One very common complaint is that those who are involved in accidents will have problems claiming from them. Is there any other way? We want to be a smart city and so I am sure there are many other ways of getting them.
Madam, that is an important question. I would encourage the Member to file a Parliamentary Question so that we can address it properly.
Order. End of Question Time.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]
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