Traffic offences in Singapore
Before the money there is a fork: an offence can be compounded — settled without a court — or it cannot, and which one it is decides what kind of thing the money is. The Composition of Offences Rules name the sections that may be compounded; the sections they do not name can only be disposed of by a court. This page starts there, then prices what the statutes price.
THE DISPOSAL FORK
Can it be settled without a court at all?
This is the first question, not a detail. The Composition of Offences Rules enumerate the sections of the Act whose offences may be compounded; a section that is not on that list has no composition route, whatever the notice looks like.
WHICH SIDE AN OFFENCE IS ON
Named in r.2(a)
There is a route that does not go to court. What the sum will be is not stated in law — see below.
Exceeding the limit on the road, careless and inconsiderate driving, mobile-device offences and failing to stop or report an accident are each named by section number.
R29 r.2(a) — R29 r.2(a)'s latest dated touch: S 997/2021 wef 01/01/2022 (of 7 dated markers on r.2(a) since 2010)
Absent from r.2(a)
No composition is available for this offence. It is disposed of by a court.
Reckless or dangerous driving, drink driving, being in charge, and exceeding the limit for the vehicle class are not on the list. The absence is the legal fact.
R29 r.2(a) — an absence; r.2(b) reaches only rule-made offences
INFORMATION
What r.2(a) actually says
“the offences referred to in sections 5(6), 5A(3), 5B(2), 6A(2), 6B(1), 10(3), 11(9), 11A(3) and (4), 12(4), 15, 20(2), 23A(5) and (7), 24(3), 26(4), 27(3), 29(1), (2) and (4), 34E(4), 35(3), 36(5), 39(1), 47G(1), 47K(1), 63(4), 65(4) and (5), 65B(1), 73(2), 74(3), 77(5), 78(3), 81(1A) and (2), 84(7), 87(3), 94(2), 97(1), (2) and (3), 113(6), 115(8), 116(7), 118(6), 120(4), 121(6), 122, 123A(1A), 126(1), (2) and (5), 127(5) and (10) and 143(7), (8) and (9) of the Act”
R29 r.2(a) · Road Traffic (Composition of Offences) Rules (R 29), r.2(a)
HEDGE
How far does the second limb reach?
- The rule’s words
“the offences under any rules or orders made under the Act”
- Why it is unsettled
The Composition of Offences Rules have two limbs. The first names individual sections of the Act. The second compounds “the offences under any rules or orders made under the Act” as a class, with no enumeration at all — and there are a great many such rules and orders. Whether that second limb reaches every rule-made offence unconditionally, or is read more narrowly, is not settled by the instruments themselves. This site does not decide it: where our source does not itself state that a particular offence is compoundable, the page says the scope is unsettled and quotes the rule, rather than asserting an answer.
Road Traffic (Composition of Offences) Rules (R 29), r.2(b) — verbatim
HOW A PENALTY IS ASSEMBLED
Three instruments, and none of them is the one you were handed
A Singapore traffic penalty is rarely written down in one place. Knowing which instrument does which job is most of what makes a notice readable.
Start with the Act. The Road Traffic Act creates the offence and, for the more serious ones, states the penalty in the same section — a maximum fine, sometimes a minimum, an imprisonment limb, and sometimes a disqualification the court is obliged to order. For a great many everyday offences it does no such thing. The section simply says that a person who does the thing is guilty of an offence and stops there, and the Act supplies a default penalty elsewhere for every offence that has none of its own. Exceeding the speed limit on a road is the most-searched example: the subsection creating that offence states no penalty at all, and the figure that prices it is the general one below.
Then come the rules. Subsidiary instruments made under the Act set the limits, define the zones, and run the demerit points register — and one of them, the Composition of Offences Rules, decides something no reader expects a rule to decide: whether the offence can be settled without a court at all. That instrument names sections of the Act, one by one. It states no amounts. It has never stated an amount. What it does is sort offences into two piles, and which pile yours is in is the single fact that most changes what happens next.
Last comes the part that is not law. The sum a driver is actually offered — the figure on the notice, the one everybody means by “the fine” — is set administratively by the Traffic Police within the ceiling the Act imposes. It is not in the Act, not in the rules, and not in anything this site reads. That is why every money figure here is labelled either as a maximum on conviction, which is what a court may impose, or as a ceiling, which is the most a composition may be. Neither of them is what you will be asked to pay, and this site will not print a third figure it cannot cite.
Why the route comes before the money
On a compoundable offence, paying ends the prosecution: the Act says in terms that no further proceedings are to be taken once the composition sum is paid. That is a real benefit and it is worth knowing you have it. It is also narrower than it sounds. Paying a composition awards demerit points exactly as a conviction would, and a compounded offence can be taken into account later as an aggravating factor if a court comes to sentence you for something else. So the compoundable route is a route out of court, not a route out of consequence, and this site never colours it as good news.
On a court-only offence none of that applies, because there is nothing to pay in the first place. Reckless driving, drink driving and being in charge of a vehicle while over the limit are not on the list of compoundable sections, and neither is exceeding the speed limit set for your class of vehicle. For those, the question is not how much — it is what a court will do, within limits the Act states and this site sets out.
MAXIMUM ON CONVICTION
The Act’s own default penalty
Where the Road Traffic Act creates an offence but states no penalty for it, s.131(2) supplies one — and it is the provision that actually prices road-limit speeding, since s.63 states none.
| Tier | Maximum fine | Maximum imprisonment | Provision |
|---|---|---|---|
| First offence | $1,000 | 3 months | s.131(2) RTA 1961 |
| Second or subsequent offence | $2,000 | 6 months | s.131(2) RTA 1961 |
FLOORED · [10/2017] carries no wef date in the text (dating-policy header) — floored to the RTA1961 2020 Rev Ed consolidation date
Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed), s.131(2)(a) — “in the case of a first offence — to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both”
This provision’s amendment marker carries no effective date in the instrument’s own text; the period shown is floored to the 2020 Revised Edition consolidation date. The marker is quoted below exactly as found.
All amounts are Singapore dollars (SGD). Figures quoted from an instrument are reproduced as the instrument writes them.
COMPOSITION CEILING
What a composition may not exceed
Where a composition is available at all, the Act caps it. It does not price it.
COMPOSITION CEILING
An offence for which the Act states no special penalty — first offence
- Maximum on conviction
- $1,000RTA 1961 s.131(2)(a)
- Statutory ceiling on a composition
- $500½ × $1,000 = $500, under the $5,000 cap
- Sum you will be asked to pay
This is the statutory ceiling, not the amount you will be asked to pay.
The Traffic Police set the actual composition sum administratively, within this ceiling. It is not stated in the Road Traffic Act, the Parking Places Act, the Composition of Offences Rules, or any instrument this site cites — and this site does not invent it.
HEDGE
Half of WHICH maximum — the first-offence one, or this offender’s?
- Reading A — against the first-offence maximum
The ceiling is $500, whatever the offender’s history.
- Reading B — against the maximum applicable to this offender
The ceiling is $1,000 once the second-or-subsequent tier applies.
Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed), s.135(1)(a) — applied to s.131(2)(a)'s $1,000 first-offence maximum for s.63(4) speeding, which states no special penalty of its own
NOT IN THE LAW
Sum you will be asked to pay
What the source does instead
The Road Traffic Act and the Parking Places Act each set a CEILING on a composition sum, in near-identical words: it may not exceed half the maximum fine prescribed for the offence, or a flat cap, whichever is lower. Neither Act — and no rule, notification or order made under either — states the sum actually offered. That figure is set administratively by the Traffic Police and published on their own service. So every composition figure on this site is the statutory ceiling, labelled as one, and never the amount you will be asked to pay. If you need that number, it comes from the agency named on your notice and from nowhere else.
Road Traffic (Composition of Offences) Rules (R 29), r.2 — the whole instrument: 4,616 characters, 4 rules, zero monetary amounts · Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed), s.135(1) — states only the ceiling formula, never the sum offered
MAXIMUM ON CONVICTION
The offences this Act prices itself
Where a section states its own penalty, that penalty governs and the general one below does not apply. These are the sections a notice most often names, with the figures they state and the route each one is on.
Two things are worth reading off these blocks before the numbers. The first is that a maximum is a maximum: it is the ceiling on what a court may impose, not a tariff, not an expectation, and not a prediction of any particular case. The second is that the word “repeat offender” does not mean one thing in this Act. Several sections define it separately, each with its own lookback and its own list of which earlier convictions count, so a person can be a repeat offender for one section and not for another. Where a definition governs a figure on this page, it is quoted beside it rather than summarised.
MOBILE DEVICES — s.65B
Holding the device is the offence
The section turns on holding a mobile communication device in the hand and operating one of its functions while the vehicle is in motion — not on whether a call was made, and not on whether the driving was affected.
COMPOUNDABLE
- The offence
- “A driver of a vehicle who holds in his or her hand a mobile communication device and operates any of its communicative or other functions, while the vehicle is in motion on a road or in a public place is guilty of an offence”
- Maximum, first offence
- $1,000or imprisonment of up to 6 months, or both
- Maximum, repeat offender
- $2,000or imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both
- Worn devices
- “To avoid doubt, subsection (1) does not apply to a mobile communication device that is a wearable device (such as a smart watch), when it is worn by the driver or rider in the manner intended by the manufacturer of the wearable device.”
- “Repeat offender”, for this section
- “repeat offender”, in relation to an offence under subsection (1), means a person who is convicted or found guilty of that offence (called the current offence) and who was previously convicted or found guilty of — (a) an offence under subsection (1); (b) an offence under section 65B as in force immediately before 1 February 2015; or (c) an offence under section 65B as in force immediately before 1 August 2020, on at least one previous occasion
FLOORED · s.65B carries only dateless markers ([28/2014; 9/2020] / [28/2014]) — floored to the RTA1961 2020 Rev Ed consolidation date
Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed), s.65B(1) — “a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both”
This provision’s amendment marker carries no effective date in the instrument’s own text; the period shown is floored to the 2020 Revised Edition consolidation date. The marker is quoted below exactly as found.
AFTER AN ACCIDENT — s.84
Two duties, and only one narrow limb with a penalty of its own
The section imposes a duty to stop and give particulars, and a duty to report. Failing either is an offence — but the section states no penalty for it, so the general penalty above is what prices it.
COMPOUNDABLE
- Duty to stop
- “Where an accident occurs owing to the presence of a motor vehicle on a road and the accident results in damage or injury to any person, vehicle or structure, the driver of the motor vehicle must stop the motor vehicle and the driver must ... provide the driver's particulars”
- Duty to report
- “The driver of the motor vehicle mentioned in subsection (1) must report the accident at a police station or to a police officer as soon as reasonably practicable within 24 hours after the accident unless ... the driver has provided the driver's particulars ... [or] the owner ... has contacted the driver”
- Time to report
- 24 hoursas the subsection states it
- Penalty for the bare offence
- “If any person fails to comply with any of the provisions of this section, he or she shall be guilty of an offence.”
- Failing to render assistance — first conviction
- $3,000or imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both
- Failing to render assistance — second or subsequent
- $5,000or imprisonment of up to 2 years, or both
FLOORED · s.84(1)/(2)/(7) carry the dateless [28/2014; 19/2019] marker — floored to the RTA1961 2020 Rev Ed consolidation date; (8) itself is marked [10/2017], also dateless
Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed), s.84(2) — “within 24 hours after the accident”
This provision’s amendment marker carries no effective date in the instrument’s own text; the period shown is floored to the 2020 Revised Edition consolidation date. The marker is quoted below exactly as found.
RECKLESS AND CARELESS DRIVING — ss.64 AND 65
Two sections with the same architecture and different numbers
Each states a base offence and then grades it by what the driving caused — hurt, grievous hurt, or death — with a further pair of limbs for offenders the Act calls serious. The figures below are the base contravention only.
COURT ONLY
- Reckless or dangerous driving
- “A person must not, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the nature, condition and use of the road, and the volume of traffic which is, or might reasonably be expected to be, on the road at that time, drive a motor vehicle on a road — (a) recklessly; or (b) at a speed or in a manner which is dangerous to the public.”
- Base contravention
- $5,000maximum on conviction
- Repeat offender
- $10,000maximum on conviction
COMPOUNDABLE
- Careless or inconsiderate driving
- “A person must not drive a motor vehicle on a road — (a) without due care and attention; or (b) without reasonable consideration for other persons using the road.”
- Base contravention
- $1,500maximum on conviction
- Repeat offender
- $3,000maximum on conviction
The two sections sit on opposite sides of the disposal fork, which is the practical difference between them for most readers. Careless driving is named in the composition rules and can be settled without a court; reckless driving is not named anywhere in them and cannot. Both carry an imprisonment limb and both can attract a disqualification, and in the graded tiers — where the driving caused hurt, grievous hurt or death — some limbs state a minimum fine as well as a maximum, and some state imprisonment with no fine at all. Those tiers are set out in the sections themselves.
HEDGE
The disqualification tables for these two sections are not carried here
Both sections carry their own tables of disqualification periods, graded by limb and by how many earlier convictions there are. Those tables are real law and this site does not reproduce them — a decision about scope, recorded so that it is not read as a finding that no disqualification applies. It does. The section is the place to read the period.
Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed), s.64(9) · Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed), s.64(10)
DISQUALIFICATION
A court power, stated without a ceiling
Beyond the sections that make a disqualification mandatory, the Act gives a court a general power — and states no upper limit on it.
- The general power
- “the court may, in addition to imposing on the offender the punishment provided for such offence, make an order disqualifying the offender from holding or obtaining a driving licence for life or for any period that the court thinks fit”
- For failing to attend court
- “The Public Prosecutor may apply to the court for an order disqualifying a person from holding or obtaining a driving licence if — (a) that person is accused of an offence under this Act or the rules or any written law specified in Part 2 of the First Schedule and had failed to appear before a court ... even though he or she had been served with the appropriate process ...”
FLOORED · ss.42/42A carry only dateless markers ([12/2021] / [10/2017]) — floored to the RTA1961 2020 Rev Ed consolidation date
Road Traffic Act 1961 (2020 Rev Ed), s.42(1) — condensed verbatim
This provision’s amendment marker carries no effective date in the instrument’s own text; the period shown is floored to the 2020 Revised Edition consolidation date. The marker is quoted below exactly as found.
WHAT THE LAW DOES NOT SAY
Two findings this page rests on
Both are absences, and both are the reason a section of this page is shaped the way it is. An absence here is established by reading the instrument, not by failing to find something.
The composition rules work by naming sections. That drafting choice means the list can be read in both directions: a section that appears on it can be compounded, and a section that does not appear on it cannot. The second half of that sentence is doing as much work as the first, and it is the reason two of the most-searched offences on this site have no price at all rather than a high one.
NOT IN THE LAW
Vehicle-class speeding cannot be settled out of court
The Composition of Offences Rules list, one by one, the sections of the Road Traffic Act whose offences may be compounded. Exceeding the speed limit set for your CLASS OF VEHICLE is not on that list. A second limb of the same rule compounds offences under any rules or orders made under the Act as a class — but that limb reaches rule-made offences, and this one is a section of the Act itself. So there is no composition route for it: the only disposal is a court. Exceeding the limit ON THE ROAD is a different offence under a different subsection, it IS named in the list, and it can be compounded. Same speedometer reading, two legal routes.
Road Traffic (Composition of Offences) Rules (R 29), r.2(a) — the full list contains “63(4)” and does NOT contain “63(1)”
NOT IN THE LAW
Drink driving and reckless driving cannot be compounded
Reckless or dangerous driving, drink driving, and being in charge of a vehicle while over the limit are all absent from the enumerated list of compoundable sections. None of them can be settled by paying a composition, and there is no version of the notice that offers you one. The route for all three is a court, which is also why they are the offences that carry a statutory minimum fine and a disqualification the court must order.
Road Traffic (Composition of Offences) Rules (R 29), r.2(a) — the list holds 65(4)/(5) and 65B(1) but no “64”