Sun Xueling: Harder consequences for drink-driving being considered by authorities

Singapore – Ms. Sun Xueling, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and National Development, launched an anti-drink driving campaign on December 21 (Friday). It is the focus of this initiative to impose greater penalties for those who drive while intoxicated given the fact that there is an increase in accidents that are happening because of this.

The organization is looking at heavier fines, longer jail time and lengthier disqualification periods from driving.

Based on statistics, there has been a 20% increase in accidents caused by drink-driving this year compared to the previous year, totaling to 120 cases in the first nine months. There is a total of 1,500 people that have been arrested due to DUI. Furthermore, at least one person has died because of drink-driving related accidents from January to September of this year.

Whether it’s a bystander, a pedestrian or the motorist himself, this type of accident spares no one.

As for enforcement, the numbers show that there has been a 2.5% decrease in the arrest of offenders compared to last year. This could be looked at from both directions wherein there are fewer violations or more are getting away without proper apprehension. The Traffic Police and the Singapore Road Safety Council are committed to implementing a stronger enforcement policy as well as tougher penalties for offenders.

The current laws state that a person caught driving under the influence but did not cause an accident to happen can pay a fine up to S$10,000, be disqualified from driving for a year or serve up to 1 year in jail. If an accident does occur, there will be graver penalties, more so if someone got hurt which could entail 20 years of driving disqualification or 5 years in jail.

The online community is fully supportive of this consideration although they are urging the authorities to spend less time considering and more time implementing. They consider drunk driving a wilful and deliberate choice to break the law; therefore, no second chances should be given. See some of the responses below: