Debated in Parliament on 21 Feb 2014.
Mr Zainal Sapari asked the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) from 2012 to date, what is the number of notices of traffic offences that are issued to motorists by Traffic Police or LTA after more than one year from the date of offence; and (b) what are the reasons behind the delay in the issuance of such notices.
Mdm Speaker, in 2012 and 2013, the Traffic Police issued a total of 614,000 notices of traffic offences to motorists for violations committed within this period. About 0.15%, or 900, of such notices were issued more than a year from the date when the offence was committed. The majority involve complex cases where protracted investigations were required to determine the appropriate action to take against the parties involved.
Delays in the receipt of traffic notices may also arise where they were not successfully delivered to the offender in the first instance. This could be because the registered vehicle owner or the offender did not report a change in his address thereby necessitating further checks, or the registered owner did not furnish the Traffic Police with the particulars of the offender in a timely manner.
Madam, I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. It can be quite frustrating for motorists who receive a very delayed notice of offence, especially after they might have thought it had all been forgotten. Would the Ministry consider setting a two- or three-month deadline for the issue of notice of offence from the date the offence was committed, after which the offence should be considered as void or a letter of advisory issued instead. I believe, given today's technology, there could be greater efficiency on the part of the Traffic police to issue timely notice of offence.
Mdm Speaker, 98% of all offences would have the notices issued within seven days. The rest of them would have to be issued quickly but, unfortunately, for this very small number – the 900 of them,
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or 0.15% – could not get to the offender as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the Police has no power to forgive the offence and, certainly, this discretion should not be given to them. They will have to consult AGC, or by legislation, in order to waive such an offence.
Madam, just one more clarification. What about cases where the driver cannot remember what happened at the time the offence was committed or if someone else was driving the vehicle?
Indeed, these are the kind of cases that cause the delays. Sometimes, there are disputes as to what happened, a dispute as to whether he himself was driving or he disputes that he was actually driving. That is why it becomes protracted. Fortunately for us, this makes up a very small percentage of such offences.
PAPERCUTS