The proposed amendments were introduced in Parliament on Tuesday by Second Minister for Home Affairs Sim Ann, who said road accidents have “serious and irreversible consequences” but are preventable.
“Our accident rate and fatality numbers need to come down,” she said. Singapore recorded 149 road fatalities in 2025, the highest in a decade, averaging at least one death every two days.
The proposed law introduces a new offence called purposeful endangerment, which applies when a motorist deliberately uses a vehicle to endanger another person, which could lead to death. Under the new offence, offenders could face up to 15 years in prison, a fine, discretionary caning and possible forfeiture of the vehicle used in the offence.
The new rule follows a high-profile case in which a driver deliberately swerved his car into a motorcycle, killing an 18-year-old pillion rider.
How does India compare?
Under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023:
Causing death by a rash or negligent act can attract up to five years’ imprisonment and a fine.
In hit-and-run cases where the driver flees without informing the police or authorities, the punishment can extend to 10 years’ imprisonment and a fine.Stricter drink-driving rules and AI-powered traffic enforcement in Singapore
Singapore also plans to propose stricter drink-driving rules. If passed, the breath alcohol limit will be cut from 35 micrograms to 15 micrograms per 100 ml of breath, while the blood alcohol limit will fall from 80mg to 30mg per 100 ml of blood.
It also plans to expand the use of technology to catch traffic offenders.
Traffic Violation Enforcement Cameras equipped with video analytics and automatic number plate recognition will detect offences such as running red lights, crossing double white lines, stopping in yellow boxes and ignoring directional signs.
During trials, nine such cameras detected 67,000 traffic violations between April 2025 and February 2026.
(Edited by : priyanka deshpande)