Debated in Parliament on 23 Feb 2023.
Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry has data on the annual number of rides in private-hire cars in the past five years where a child car seat supplied by the driver is used; (b) what is the annual number of private-hire car drivers who have been caught for failing to comply with the regulations on using appropriate child restraints; and (c) if this data is not collected, whether the Ministry will consider collecting such data.
Commuters who need to travel with young children are able to select from various family-friendly services provided by our ride-hail operators, or request for a child car seat when booking private hire cars (PHCs). Over the past three years, there have been about 415,000 trips per year on family-friendly PHC services.
The Ministry of Home Affairs tracks the number of violations of the Road Traffic Rules. According to the Rules, passengers below the height of 1.35 metres travelling in PHCs, like most other vehicles, must be properly secured by an approved child restraint appropriate for their height and weight, or a body-restraining seat belt when seated on a booster seat. The number of PHC drivers who were found to have violated this rule decreased from 66 in 2018 to 29 in 2019. This fell to one to two cases between 2020 and 2022, though the Traffic Police’s enforcement priorities and protocols have remained unchanged.
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