Singapore to impose stiffer fines on repeat offenders who leave car engines running, starting from June 1

singapore traffic 1-WM

Singapore’s National Environmental Agency (NEA) has announced that the government will be increasing the penalty for idling vehicle engine repeat offences from June 1. The move to impose a stronger deterrence against idling vehicle engines is part of the republic’s ongoing efforts to further improve its ambient air quality and safeguard public health, the agency said in a statement released today.

It said that the higher penalty for repeat offenders is being imposed following an upward trend of idling vehicle engine offences. Between 2013 and 2015, the number of enforcement cases grew from about 3,200 in 2013 to 3,800 in 2014 and 5,100 in 2015. The NEA added that during the first three months of 2016, it took action against 1,489 errant motorists for such offences.

Under the country’s environmental protection and management (vehicular emissions) regulations, it is an offence to leave the engine of a motor vehicle running when it’s stationary for reasons other than traffic conditions.

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From June 1, motorists caught leaving their vehicle engines idling for a second or subsequent time may compound the offence by paying a fine of SGDS$100 (RM291), which is being increased from the current rate of SGDS$70 (RM203). Failure to pay this will see the motorist being liable to a maximum court fine of SGD$5,000 (RM14,550) upon conviction.

The NEA says that regulations apply to all motorists driving all types of motor vehicles, except taxis/buses in a queue at their designated stops, stands or terminals waiting to pick up/drop off passengers or vehicles undergoing inspection or maintenance. Law enforcement or emergency services vehicles (such as ambulances or police cars) are also exempt from the rule.

The agency added it encouraged members of the public who spot parked idling vehicles to report them in.

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Anthony Lim

Anthony Lim believes that nothing is better than a good smoke and a car with character, with good handling aspects being top of the prize heap. Having spent more than a decade and a half with an English tabloid daily never being able to grasp the meaning of brevity or being succinct, he wags his tail furiously at the idea of waffling - in greater detail - about cars and all their intrinsic peculiarities here.

 

Comments

  • Leafable on Apr 29, 2016 at 2:16 pm

    Should of encourage citizen switch to EV. Their citizen can hire a ICE car for Malaysia long haul trip or buy a Malaysia car park in Johor so they will pump petrol to support the local government (Malaysia government don’t give a toss about pollution so you wouldn’t get penalty just like Singapore). Win win.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 3
    • looney on Apr 29, 2016 at 3:39 pm

      Soon fined for public flatulence

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
      • Muniandy Periasamy on Apr 29, 2016 at 5:38 pm

        Malaysia should do this. Go to schools and see all the cars engines on waiting for their kids. And our fuel is not like Singapore clean fuel, our fuel is so filthy and dirty, it emits toxins and poisons which the poor school kids breathe. In EU, Euro 2M petrol is considered equivalent to poison.

        Go to even Pudu and see the busses still running the engines. You can see so many pregnant mothers and babies breathing the toxic diesel fuel.

        But in Malaysia, we are not interested in protecting the rakyat. Government is more interested in enriching themselves and the monisters are more interested in amassing more wealth for themselves.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 33 Thumb down 9
    • They wanted to fine a Tesla owner for hi emission from his vehicle. What EV policy is this?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 2
      • Ollie on May 03, 2016 at 4:16 pm

        Wouldn’t have bothered if not for the 17 likes at time of this reply. Tesla viewed on a carbon lifecycle basis will require you to drive one for 20 years to repay the emissions spent during manufacture vs savings during driving. Add on more years if your electricity is coal-generated. Please google for more information.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • carlist on Apr 29, 2016 at 8:39 pm

      Seriously the people stay in this little red dot really pity. The worshipped extremely good government control very little single move of their people.

      Becareful the people living there need to pay for the CO2 they exhaling / breathing too. Wao, what a lot of CO2 emission by 3.5m local people, 2.5m PR / working permit holder.

      Please, do control and look on the thousands of the buses on the road first before looking at the private car! Change the buses to EV first then talk about this!

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 4
  • Nice sketch on Apr 29, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    what happens if a person is lost and stops awhile at the side of the road to check the GPS or map? Like that also want to fine meh?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 1
    • trollmaster3000 on Apr 29, 2016 at 8:19 pm

      just turn off the engine lah.. your GPS doesn’t need the engine to be running in order to function..

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 8
  • alldisc on Apr 29, 2016 at 3:18 pm

    this is the reason to have start-stop technology. because in traffic jams, you do not need the engine running (producing carbon dioxide, monoxide and creating heat – imagine 1 million cars in klang valley, no wonder now 8 oclock in the morning already feel warm).

    something Proton must have in order to enter europeean market.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 9 Thumb down 2
    • kadajawi (Member) on May 01, 2016 at 11:00 pm

      One of the reasons… it saves fuel too. My next car will have it, and probably also have a heater/cooler that works when the engine is off. Really that is what Malaysians need… cars that have working aircon when the engine is off. After all one of the main reasons why people leave their engine on is that it gets hot in the car (of course there are also idiots who have their window open and leave the engine on… what’s the point in that?! Fuel not expensive enough, is it?).

      There is no reason to warm up the engine in Malaysia, as temperatures are so high that 1-2 minutes of gentle driving is enough to get the engine up to temperature, and apparently leaving the engine in idle while cold is even harmful for the engine, as it takes a long time for the engine to warm up that way, and the engine is running for a long time while cold (which is bad). Putting some load on it, i. e. driving, is a much better way of heating up the engine.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Jesus Christ, what a boring country to visit! Is there anything you CAN do there!? It’ll soon be illegal to breathe.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 10
    • Bashers says we must follow our foreign overlord gods. Jangan persoal or u r BN lapdog

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 6
    • kadajawi (Member) on May 01, 2016 at 11:01 pm

      That’s BS. These fines are HELPING people breathe. Breathe clean, good air, not the sickening, unhealhty crap that is called air in Malaysia.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Rehome_01 on Apr 29, 2016 at 4:05 pm

    What about the open burning in Indonesia which is causing haze in Malaysia and Singapore every year? Should also do something about it too..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 1
  • Hail the Flintstones.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
  • Little Lee is looking for more donation now that SG economy is tanking

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 5
  • That is such an oppressive society. I genuinely feel sorry for people who have to live there. Granted they enjoy 100’s of billions of malaysian money being stashed there, but it is still a very hard life.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 3
  • actually in Malaysia we do have such law apply but you know la… here our enforcement is not that strong. it is in the ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (CONTROL OF EMISSION FROM DIESEL ENGINES) REGULATIONS, 1996
    where Regulation 16 stated “no person shall allow the engine of any motor vehicles to run while the motor vehicles is stationary for more than three (3) minutes in an enclosed or a partially enclosed parking area or any terminus.”

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 14 Thumb down 0
    • kadajawi (Member) on May 01, 2016 at 11:03 pm

      That law doesn’t go far enough. 3 minutes is way too long, and it’s only in a car park etc. Outside you can leave it on for as long as you want.

      What I did is cool down the car as much as possible, blast the aircon… and then off the engine. The car will heat up again, after 10 minutes or so it gets too hot. On the engine, blast the aircon until it gets cold (takes a few minutes), and then turn it off again. That way I stay relatively comfortable when I have to wait in the car, but I don’t pollute as much.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Ollie on May 03, 2016 at 4:19 pm

    What’s the definition for idling? 30 seconds? 10 seconds?

    Some loonies still think its good to idle before starting and before shutting off. In fact all cars with fuel injection can be turned on and off anytime, and you warm up the car by driving slowly for the first 500m – 1km, not by idling. Fuel injectors have been around since 1985 so those who idle before start are imagining carburetors. Please google for more information.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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