Amended Road Traffic Act to come into effect from June 2025

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has announced that the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2025, which was passed by Parliament on 7 January 2025, will come into effect from 12 June 2025.

To recalibrate the balance between deterrence and proportionality for road traffic offences, the Road Traffic Act has been amended in three ways.

Firstly, the court will be given greater discretion to impose an appropriate sentence depending on the circumstances of the offence.

More specifically, the Act will remove the mandatory minimum imprisonment term and disqualification period for first-time offenders who commit dangerous and careless driving offences that cause death or grievous hurt.

The Act will also lower the mandatory minimum imprisonment terms for repeat offenders who commit dangerous driving offences that cause death (from four years to two years' imprisonment) or grievous hurt (from two years to one year’s imprisonment).

The amendments mean that first-time offenders will not face a mandatory minimum imprisonment term and disqualification period, but will allow the prosecution to deem the appropriate charge instead

These amendments will not affect the maximum penalties for these offences and for those who drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. This will allow the court to have the flexibility to decide on the appropriate sentence in every case, with the MHA expecting egregious offenders to continue to be subject to stiff penalties.

Secondly, the Act will provide the prosecution with full discretion to determine the appropriate charge based on the circumstances of the offence. In particular, this amendment allows the prosecution to proceed on a "hurt" charge even where "grievous hurt" is factually caused.

This also enables the prosecution to take into account the nature of the injury caused, as well as any mitigating circumstances (whether other road users were partly responsible) when deciding the appropriate charge to be imposed upon.

Thirdly, the Act will adjust how a motorist's track record will determine their classification as a "repeat offender", which will result in a higher maximum sentence that can be imposed.

If the motorist has a record of speeding offences, under the Act, they will only be classified as a "repeat offender" if they have at least two prior speeding convictions in excess of 40km/h of the road or vehicle's speed limit and if at least two of the aforementioned convictions occurred within the past five years (preceding the motorist's current offence).

The amended Road Traffic Act also ensures that a motorist's licence remains suspended until the conclusion of his or her court matters, including the period before any appeal is concluded

Motorists with previous convictions for dangerous driving, careless driving or conducting illegal speed trials will continue to be classified as a "repeat offender" under the Act.

The court will continue to have the discretion to consider any prior speeding record as an aggravating factor to impose a stiffer sentence. This is the case even if the motorist is not classified as a "repeat offender" by virtue of his previous speeding offences.

In addition, the Act has been amended to ensure that a motorist's licence remains suspended until the conclusion of a motorist's court matters, including the period before any appeal is concluded.

This comes after MHA's announcement in May 2025, in which harsher penalties for speeding offences such as increased demerit points and composition sums will come into effect from 1 January 2026.