SINGAPORE: The variety of drink driving accidents that brought on loss of life or damage has gone up prior to now three years, with a three-year excessive of 1,703 drink driving violations reported in 2022.
Excessive-profile accidents with viral footage stay hotly debated on-line, with netizens questioning if Singapore’s legal guidelines are satisfactory for drink driving and associated deaths.
These embrace the Tanjong Pagar crash, which took 5 lives, and a dashing Mercedes in Tampines that killed a Gojek driver and severely injured a number of others.
Final month, a drunk Mini Cooper driver who rammed into again of a stationary meals supply rider was sentenced to 18 months’ jail and a 10-year driving ban.
Statistics offered to CNA by the site visitors police final week confirmed that the variety of drink-driving accidents that brought on fatalities or accidents went up within the final three years.
There have been 146 such circumstances in 2020, 155 in 2021 and 175 in 2022. The variety of drink-driving violations went up from 1,470 in 2021 to 1,703 in 2022. This was a three-year excessive from 2020, when such violations numbered 1,576.
THE LAW ON DRINK DRIVING
CNA spoke to attorneys acquainted with drink driving circumstances to seek out out what the legal guidelines are, and whether or not they’re satisfactory.
The offence of drink driving beneath the Highway Visitors Act right this moment is a jail time period of as much as 12 months, a positive between S$2,000 and S$10,000 (US$1,500 and US$7,400), or each for a first-time offender.
They can even be banned from driving for a minimum of two years.
Repeat offenders face a jail time period of as much as two years, a positive between S$5,000 and S$20,000, and a five-year driving ban.
Ms A Meenakshi, an affiliate at IRB Regulation, mentioned the penalties for drink driving have develop into harsher through the years.
Particularly, she pointed to the 2019 amendments to the Highway Visitors Act, which elevated the utmost positive and imprisonment time period for drink driving.
Earlier than this, the penalties for first-time offenders have been a jail time period of as much as six months, a positive between S$1,000 and S$5,000 and a driving ban of a minimum of 12 months.
Repeat offenders beforehand confronted as much as 12 months’ jail, a positive between S$3,000 and S$10,000 and a minimal driving ban of 12 months.
Mr Mitchell Leon, an affiliate at Characterist LLC, mentioned the utmost sentences have been primarily doubled with the 2019 amendments, with the minimal disqualification interval additionally doubled from 12 months to 2 years.
“It’s clear that the improved sentencing regime post-2019 was meant to create a powerful deterrence to would-be drink drivers, in addition to irresponsible or reckless drivers,” mentioned Mr Leon.
CONSEQUENCES OF DRINK DRIVING
The long-ranging potential penalties of drink driving might not seem instantly after having a tipple.
Veteran lawyer Amolat Singh mentioned drink driving conditions which result in accidents can typically depart an individual maimed and crippled for all times, and might rob a household of their breadwinner.
Apart from being charged with drink driving, an individual may also be charged with harmful driving or driving with out due care or affordable consideration, mentioned Ms Meenakshi.
“Apart from the legal side, a drink driver can also be a civil declare if there was an accident. The declare can vary from damages for property injury, private damage and every other losses,” she mentioned.
Managing director of Characterist LLC, Mr Daniel Goh Choon Wah, whose agency does “a substantial quantity” of motorized vehicle insurance coverage work, mentioned that normally, the insurance coverage contract stipulates that drink driving constitutes grounds for the repudiation of insurance coverage legal responsibility.
This implies the insurers might not cowl a declare.
“Particularly, some insurance coverage insurance policies may present that any quantity of alcohol consumed is grounds for repudiation. In different phrases, the driving force needn’t essentially exceed the authorized restrict beneath the Act of 80mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood,” mentioned Mr Goh.
In such a case, any declare made by the injured get together will fall on the driving force, mentioned Ms Meenakshi.
“In impact, they must pay the damages out of their very own pockets. After this, when these drink drivers want to renew their insurance coverage insurance policies, they could need to pay a better premium or, in some circumstances, insurers might refuse to offer any protection in any respect,” she mentioned.
“KILLING” SOMEONE WITH A CAR
A typical chorus amongst readers commenting on-line on tales about deadly drink driving accidents is {that a} drink driver “will get away” with a meagre penalty for killing somebody with a automotive.
Nonetheless, Ms Meenakshi mentioned it’s a “widespread false impression” that penalties are too lenient.
“The present legal guidelines adequately present for punishments that are proportionate to the gravity of the crime concerned,” she mentioned.
A drink driver who causes loss of life is not going to solely face a cost for drink driving, but in addition a cost of harmful driving or driving with out due care or affordable consideration.
On prime of this, they are going to be thought-about a “critical offender” as outlined by the Highway Visitors Act, which implies they face enhanced penalties.
“With homicide, an individual units out with the intention to take somebody’s life,” mentioned Ms Meenakshi. “Whereas with drink driving, one doesn’t set out with the intention of inflicting loss of life. Most of the time, drink drivers drive out of comfort.”
She mentioned the punishment for harmful driving whereas beneath the affect, leading to loss of life, could be harsher than inflicting loss of life by a rash act. The utmost jail time period for inflicting loss of life by a rash act is 5 years, whereas a drink driver who causes loss of life could be jailed for as much as 10 years in sure conditions.
Mr Leon mentioned that in the case of establishing sentences, an individual’s intentions and the “fault component” should be regarded, and never simply the results of the legal conduct.
“Whereas the top consequence, particularly the loss of life of an individual, may be the identical, it’s fairly clear {that a} drink driver doesn’t have the identical diploma of culpability as a assassin,” he mentioned.
On whether or not the prevailing penalties for drink driving are enough, Mr Singh mentioned it’s “a difficult enterprise” to find out penalties.
“Due to this fact, the authorities take a calibrated and graduated strategy. The penalties are adjusted by trying on the statistics of such offences and if they’re on the rise regardless of the improved penalties, then the penalties are made just a little larger,” he mentioned.
It won’t be sufficient to extend the jail time period and the fines alone, which is the place a driving ban is available in, he mentioned.
The 2019 amendments to the regulation expanded the scope for the site visitors police to have the discretion to impose rapid suspension for all harmful driving offences, in addition to careless driving offences that trigger loss of life or grievous harm.
Driving bans are directed at defending the protection of motorists and most of the people as they maintain harmful drivers off the street and bar offenders from inflicting any future hurt, mentioned Mr Singh.
THE LAW “CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH”
Mr Goh mentioned there appears to be a normal consciousness amongst offenders that the penalties have develop into more durable post-2019.
“That being mentioned, the truth that offending behaviour stays seemingly prevalent may counsel that the regulation can solely achieve this a lot to discourage errant behaviour,” mentioned Mr Goh.
“One doable motive for that is that drink drivers might discover themselves in conditions the place they suppose they haven’t any alternative however to drive their automobiles dwelling or in any other case depart their automobiles stranded wherever it was that they have been ingesting,” he mentioned.
“Naturally this can’t be an excuse or a justification for legal conduct, however maybe the answer lies not in harsher legal guidelines however within the larger availability and/or consciousness of choices as a substitute for drink driving.”
In an announcement to CNA, the site visitors police mentioned they take a powerful stance in the direction of drink driving.
“All motorists are urged to practise good street sense and get dwelling safely to their family members,” they mentioned.