Written Reply to Parliamentary Question on Prevalence and Detection of Illegal Vehicle Modifications

Mr Saktiandi Supaat asked the Minister for Transport 

a.     in the past five years, how many cases of illegal vehicle modifications have pertained to (i) motorcycles (ii) passenger cars (iii) light goods vehicles (iv) heavy vehicles and (v) any other vehicles respectively; and 

b.     of which, how many cases are detected by (i) routine vehicular inspections (ii) enforcement by LTA officers and (iii) any other methods respectively.

Reply by Minister for Transport S Iswaran:

1.     From 2018 to 2022, there was on average around 2,000 illegal modification offences by motorcycles, around 3,600 offences by passenger cars, and about 2,200 offences by commercial vehicles. As illegal modifications are not differentiated by the weight class of commercial vehicles, this last category includes both light and heavy goods vehicles. All of these offences were detected through the Land Transport Authority (LTA)’s regular enforcement patrol.

2.     There is no discernible trend over the years, except that the number of illegal modification offences detected across the board dropped in 2020 due to lower overall vehicular traffic during COVID-19.

3.     Besides enforcement, there are other measures to deter illegal modifications. All vehicles are required to undergo regular inspections; if vehicles have been modified and do not meet inspection standards, they will need to make the necessary rectifications and have their vehicles reinspected. Owners of vehicles that fail to pass the inspections will not be able to renew their road tax and use their vehicles on our roads. LTA has also recently increased the composition sum for first-time offenders who conduct illegal exhaust modifications which have the highest safety risks, from $500 to $1,000. Offenders of more egregious cases can be taken to court, even if they are first-time offenders.