Opening Speech by Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng for the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill Second Reading

1.     Madam Speaker, I beg to move, “That the Bill be now read a second time.”

Background

2.     Land transportation globally is undergoing a digital revolution.
 
      a.   Private hire car services, such as Uber and Grab, have become a popular mode of point-to-point transport. 

      b.   Autonomous vehicles (AV) are fast on its way to becoming a reality on our roads.   

3.     In land scarce and manpower scarce Singapore, these two disruptive developments carry exciting possibilities.

      a.   They can enhance the efficiency and convenience of our land transportation system. 

      b.   They will move us closer towards a car-lite environment, where Singaporeans feel less of a need to own and move around in their own private vehicles. 

      c.   Thus, it is important that we do not impede their growth as some cities have done.  

      d.   On the other hand, we cannot take a completely laissez-faire approach.  We must have due regard for the safety of passengers and other road users. 

4.     We are therefore adopting a balanced, light-touch regulatory stance that protects the safety of passengers and other road users, and yet ensures that these technologies can flourish. 
 
      a.   It is within this context that the Ministry of Transport is amending the Road Traffic Act. 

5.     At the same time, we are highly conscious that the advent of these disruptive technologies could have an impact on livelihoods.  

      a.   We cannot and should not stop innovation and progress, and I am glad to see that taxi drivers and companies are rising to the competition.  

      b.   Widespread deployment of AV technology is still some 10, maybe15 years away, and progressively, 

      c.   the Government will put in place programmes to help Singaporeans who drive for a living, acquire new skills and take on higher value-added jobs in an AV world.  

6.     Madam Speaker, please allow me next, to say a few words in Mandarin.

7.     世界各地的陆路交通体系正在经历一场前所未有的数码革命。

      a.   私人召车服务已成为一种广受国人欢迎的出行方式。

      b.   另一方面，无人驾驶科技也即将上路，为本地乘客提供另一种出行选择。

8.     新加坡无论是土地或是人力资源都非常有限。

      a.   因此,这两项颠覆性科技将有助于为我国交通体系带来更高的效率以及更大的便利，

      b.   让我们进一步朝减少用车的愿景迈进。

9.     交通部正在修订公路交通法令，

      a.   我们将尽力平衡各方需求，采取柔性监管方式，

      b.   在保障乘客的利益和安全的同时，也为业界提供足够的创新发展空间。

10.    我们清楚意识到这些颠覆性科技的出现，可能会对一些国人的生计造成影响。

      a.   令我感到欣慰的是，德士师傅和德士公司都以积极的态度应对眼前的挑战。

      b.   随着无人驾驶科技逐步运用在更多不同的领域，政府将制定更多培训计划，协助靠驾驶维生的新加坡人掌握新技能，转行投入更高增值的工作。

11.    Now, let me explain the key amendments in the Bill.

Supporting Safe Trials for Autonomous Vehicles

12.    The first set of amendments pertains to autonomous motor vehicles in the bill. 

      a.   They are set out primarily in clauses 3(a) and 6 of the Bill. 

      b.   The current Act assumes a human driver to be in control of the vehicle, and thereby responsible for monitoring the surroundings and making driving decisions. 

      c.   Where automated vehicle technology is installed in a motor vehicle, computer systems control the vehicle, replacing the driver's role. 

      d.   Autonomous vehicles thus challenge the notion of human responsibility which lies at the core of our current road and criminal laws. 

      e.   Developers of the autonomous systems must provide enough measures to ensure the safe operation of the AVs on our general roads. 

13.    Clause 6 read with the amendments in clause 3(a), applies to motor vehicles with conditional, high and full automation, as defined in levels 3, 4 and 5 of SAE International J3016.  

      a.   The SAE levels of automation are commonly used in the motor industry to define and distinguish the various levels of automation. 

      b.   At levels 3, 4 and 5, it is the autonomous vehicle which monitors the driving environment, 

      c.   and the human driver is no longer required to actively monitor the vehicle. 

      d.   The amendments are not meant and not intended to capture vehicles outfitted with just driver assistance systems like cruise control and assisted parking functions. 

      e.   These systems are regulated through other means.

14.    To encourage the use of automated vehicle technologies here, Clause 6 will allow the Minister for Transport to create new rules to more effectively regulate AV trials or the use of AVs on public roads.
 
      a.   These rules can place time and space limits on these trials, set standards for the design of the AV equipment, and impose requirements to share data from the trials. 

15.    Clause 6 also allows the Minister, through the rules, to address the anomalies that can arise under existing provisions of the Road Traffic Act or its subsidiary legislation which make a human driver responsible for the safe use of a motor vehicle while on a public road. 

      a.   The rules therefore can exempt AVs, operators of AVs and those conducting or participating in trials of AVs from these existing provisions, 

      b.   and also modify the application of specified provisions of the Road Traffic Act or its subsidiary legislation in respect of these same vehicles or persons. 

      c.   As this is emerging technology, the provisions will provide the flexibility needed to assess the appropriate regulatory response more quickly. 

      d.   We have limited this regulatory sandbox to five years. 

      e.   At the end of five years, the Ministry will consider enacting more permanent legislation, or return to Parliament to further extend the period of the sandbox.

Enhancing Safety for Private Hire Car Users

16.    The second set of amendments pertains to the regulation of the private hire car industry. 

     a.   These can be found primarily in clauses 31 to 35. 

17.    PHC services have been warmly welcomed by commuters. They have been finding it easier to get a ride, whether in a taxi or PHC.  

      a.   Last year, I had said that we will take a more balanced and sensible approach in regulating this industry, with the safety of commuters as our priority. 

      b.   Hence, by the amendments, all PHC drivers providing chauffeured services will be required to obtain vocational licences. 

      c.   This is to ensure that they are equipped with sufficient knowledge and skills to provide his or her ride-sourcing service safely. 

      d.   For identification purposes, all chauffeur-driven PHCs must be affixed with tamper-evident decals issued by the LTA, by the middle of the year.

      e.   Together with our existing rules that require PHCs to be licensed as public service vehicles and to have adequate insurance, these measures help LTA better enforce against errant drivers and vehicle owners. 

18.    PHC booking service operators such as Uber and Grab play an important role in the enforcement of these rules.
  
      a.   The amendments will thus require them to put in place robust systems to ensure that drivers with an affiliated agreement with Uber or Grab and the PHC vehicles they use meet our requirements and standards.   

      b.   Clause 34 introduces a new section 110A which empowers the Registrar of Vehicles to issue a general suspension order that bars all PHC drivers affiliated with a particular PHC booking service operator from driving for that operator.

      c.   This is if one of its affiliated drivers has been convicted of or accepted composition for certain offences in the course of being an affiliated driver for that private hire car booking service operator, 

      d.   and there are two or more of such cases in the preceding 12-month period.

      e.   These are offences which compromise commuter safety, namely 

          i.   providing PHC services without a vocational licence, 

         ii.  using an unlicensed vehicle to provide the services, 

         iii. or using a PHC that is inappropriately insured. 

      f.   A general suspension order has serious implications not just for the PHC booking service operator but also for their affiliated drivers, and the Registrar of Vehicles will not take such a step lightly;

      g.   And the Bill does set out a due process.

      h.   But as the safety of passengers is paramount, the Registrar has to be armed with such powers. 

         i.   Our intent is to apply it to instances where the PHC booking service operator repeatedly makes no attempt to ensure that its affiliated drivers adhere to our laws.   

19.    Clause 35 complements Clause 34 by empowering LTA to make rules prescribing the duties and responsibilities of PHC booking service operators, 

      a.   such as ensuring that their affiliated drivers hold the appropriate vocational licenses, 

      b.   and providing LTA with trip and other fleet-related data. 

      c.   The data will help LTA in its transport planning functions. 

20.    Our regulations are not overly onerous, and I think both Members, and service operators like Uber and Grab, will agree that these are necessary for the interests of commuters. 

Enhancing Enforcement Powers

21.    Finally, the Bill makes several amendments to update the penalties for offences under the Road Traffic Act, 

      a.   and to ensure that LTA remains effective in enforcement amidst a rapidly evolving operating environment.  

22.    Currently, the maximum composition sum that can be offered under the Act is $500, regardless of the severity of the offence or the maximum fine prescribed. 

      a.   The cap has been unchanged since 1996.

      b.   This low cap restricts the ability of LTA and the Traffic Police to calibrate the composition sums offered according to the severity of offences and to deter repeat offenders. 

      c.   Hence, Clause 38 increases the maximum composition sum for all offences in the RTA to 50% of the maximum fine prescribed for the offence, or $5,000, whichever is lower. 

23.    Clause 20 raises the penalties for the offence of “reckless or dangerous driving” from $3,000 to $5,000 for the first offence, 

      a.    and $5,000 to $10,000 for the second or subsequent offence. 

      b.    Clause 27 allows the Courts to mete out both a fine and a jail sentence if a person is found guilty of failing to stop and report an accident that could have occurred due to his vehicle. 

      c.   This change is to ensure that the law is sufficiently deterrent.

24.    Next, Clauses 13 and 18 empower the Minister to make Rules empowering the Registrar of Vehicles to prohibit the entry and exit of foreign-registered vehicles into and out of Singapore 

      a.   if these vehicles have unpaid charges (including ERP charges), fees, or taxes owed to the Singapore Government under the Road Traffic Act and Parking Places Act. 

      b.   This will improve the effectiveness of enforcement and strengthen deterrence against such foreign vehicles.

25.    Clause 45 will amend the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risk and Compensation) Act as a related amendment,

      a.   to enhance LTA's enforcement against motorists who have been found driving without adequate insurance. 

      b.   Today, there is a time bar on the prosecution of insurance-related offences. 

      c.   LTA must prosecute someone found driving vehicles with inadequate insurance within either three or six months, after which no prosecution can be made. 

      d.   However, this time bar prevents the taking of effective action against offenders in complex cases. 

      e.   Clause 45 removes this time-bar restriction.

26.    To prevent circumvention of our vehicle population controls, Clause 10 repeals section 12, thus removing the option for Singaporeans and Singapore permanent residents to keep and use foreign-registered vehicles in Singapore simply by paying the requisite Additional Registration Fee. 

      a.   They will no longer be allowed to keep or use foreign-registered vehicles in Singapore.  

Conclusion

27.    Madam Speaker, the proposed amendments allow new technologies to flourish in Singapore,

      a.   and for us to take advantage of them to further improve our land transport system and benefit all Singaporeans. 

      b.   They strike a balance between such, and safeguarding passengers and other road users' interests and safety. 

28.    Madam Speaker, I beg to move.