(2)  The highway code and any revision thereof shall be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette.

(3)  Subject to subsections (1) and (2), the Minister may cause the code and every revised edition of the code to be printed and issued to the public either without charge or at such price as he may think fit.

(4)  The Minister may take such other steps as he may think fit for securing that the provisions of the code shall be brought to the notice of the public.

(5)  A failure on the part of any person to observe any provision of the highway code shall not of itself render that person liable to criminal proceedings of any kind, but any such failure may, in any proceedings whether civil or criminal and including proceedings for an offence under this Act, be relied upon by any party to the proceedings as tending to establish or to negative any liability which is in question in those proceedings.

(2)  The Deputy Commissioner of Police, with the concurrence of the Minister, may make an order under this section, not inconsistent with the rules, for any of the following purposes:

(3)  No order shall be made under subsection (2) with respect to any road which would have the effect of preventing such access as may reasonably be required for vehicles of any class or description to any premises situated on or adjacent to the road.

(4)  An order made under this section and expressed to be a temporary order shall remain in force for such period not exceeding 3 months as may be specified therein.

(5)  An order not expressed to be temporary shall be presented to Parliament as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette and may be annulled or amended by a resolution of Parliament.

(6)  Any person who uses a vehicle or causes or permits a vehicle to be used in contravention of an order made under this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(2)  Rules made under this section may make provision with respect to special roads generally, or may make different provision with respect to special roads provided for the use of different classes of traffic, or may make provision with respect to any particular special road.

(3)  Rules made under this section may, in particular —

(4)  In this section —

(2)  Subject to this section, the Minister shall, not less than 7 days before prohibiting the use of a road or part thereof under this section, cause notice thereof to be published in one or more newspapers circulating in Singapore.

(3)  Every such notice shall contain a statement of the effect of the prohibition and a description of the alternative route or routes, if any, available for traffic.

(4)  So long as any restriction or prohibition made under this section is in force, a notice stating the effect thereof and describing any alternative route or routes available for traffic shall be kept posted in a conspicuous manner at each end of the part of the road to which the restriction or prohibition relates and at the points at which it will be necessary for vehicles to diverge from the road.

(5)  Any person, authorised by name or office in writing in that behalf by the Minister, may at any time by notice restrict or prohibit temporarily the use of any road or part thereof by vehicles or by vehicles of any particular class or description where, owing to the likelihood of danger to the public or of serious damage to the highway, it appears to him necessary that such restriction or prohibition should come into force without delay.

(6)  Any such notice shall describe the alternative route or routes, if any, available for traffic and shall be kept posted in accordance with subsection (3) and shall not continue in force for a period longer than 7 days from the date thereof.

(7)  Where such a notice has been posted, the Minister may, before the expiration of the period referred to in subsection (6), proceed to make a restriction or prohibition under subsection (1) with respect to the same road or part thereof.

(8)  Any person who uses or causes or permits the use of a vehicle in contravention of any restriction or prohibition imposed under this section shall be guilty of an offence.

(2)  Any such written approval may be made subject to such conditions to be specified therein as the Minister may think fit to impose.

(3)  For the purpose of any duly approved competition or trial of speed, the Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, regulate or restrict or prohibit to such extent and subject to such conditions or exceptions as may be specified therein the use of a road or part thereof.

(4)  No such order shall be made, unless not less than 7 days before the making thereof, a notice of intention to make the order, specifying its general nature and describing alternative routes, if any, available for traffic, animals and pedestrians, has been published by the Minister in one or more newspapers which circulate in Singapore.

(5)  So long as any order made under subsection (3) remains in force, a notice stating the effect of the order and describing any alternative routes available for traffic, animals or pedestrians shall be kept posted in a conspicuous manner at each end of the part of the road to which the order relates and at the points at which it will be necessary for traffic, animals or pedestrians to diverge from the road.

(6)  The cost of every such notice and publication shall be paid in advance to the Minister by the person promoting the competition or trial of speed.

(7)  Any person who promotes or takes part in any competition or trial of speed without the written approval of the Minister and any driver or person in charge of any vehicle used in or taking part in any such competition or trial of speed shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months and shall also be punished with a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $2,000 and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months and with a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $3,000.

(8)  Any police officer may arrest without warrant any person committing an offence under subsection (7) and may seize and detain for the purposes of proceedings under this Act any vehicle used in or taking part in any competition or trial of speed without the written approval of the Minister.

(9)  A person convicted of an offence under subsection (7) shall, unless the court for any special reason thinks fit to order otherwise and without prejudice to the power of the court to order a longer period of disqualification, be disqualified for a period of not less than 12 months from the date of the conviction from holding or obtaining a driving licence.

(2)  An order for the forfeiture or for the release of a vehicle liable to forfeiture under this section may be made by the court before which the prosecution with regard to an offence under section 116(7) has been or will be held.

(3)  If there be no prosecution with regard to an offence under section 116(7), the vehicle seized under section 116(8) shall be forfeited at the expiry of one month from the date of the seizure unless a claim thereto is made before that date. Any person asserting that he is the owner of the vehicle may personally, or by his agent authorised in writing, give written notice to the Commissioner of Police that he claims the vehicle.

(4)  Upon receipt of a notice under subsection (3), the Commissioner of Police may direct that the vehicle be released or may refer the matter by information to a Magistrate.

(5)  The Magistrate shall, on receipt of an information under subsection (4), or on the written application of the Public Prosecutor, hold an inquiry and proceed to determine the matter and shall, on proof that the vehicle was used in the commission of an offence under section 116(7), order the vehicle to be forfeited, or may in the absence of such proof order its release.

(6)  No person shall, in any proceedings in any court in respect of the seizure of any vehicle seized in exercise or the purported exercise of any power conferred under this section, be entitled to the costs of such proceedings or to any damages or other relief, other than an order for the return of the vehicle, unless the seizure was made without reasonable or probable cause.

(2)  Any such notice may as regards both weight of vehicle and axle weight specify different maximum weights in relation to a vehicle travelling at a speed less than a speed specified in the notice and in relation to a vehicle travelling at that speed or any greater speed.

(3)  In this section —

(4)  The fact that a prohibition such as is referred to in subsection (1) has been made by the Authority and has been notified in the manner prescribed in that subsection shall be published in the Gazette.

(5)  Any omission to so publish the prohibition and notification shall not affect the validity of the prohibition or notification.

(6)  If without the consent of the Authority, a vehicle is driven across a bridge in contravention of this section, any person who so drives it or causes or permits it to be so driven shall, without prejudice to any civil liability incurred by him in the case of damage being caused to the bridge or otherwise, be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $400 and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $1,000.

(7)  If, in any proceedings under this section, the prosecutor satisfies the court that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the weight of the vehicle exceeded the maximum weight specified in the notice or that any axle weight of the vehicle exceeded the maximum axle weight so specified, the burden shall lie on the defendant to prove that the weight of the vehicle or every axle weight of the vehicle, as the case may be, did not exceed the maximum weight or maximum axle weight.

(2)  Traffic signs shall be of the prescribed size, colour and type except where the Authority, with the approval of the Minister, authorises the placing or retention of a sign of another character.

(3)  No traffic signs shall be drawn or placed on or near any road except under and in accordance with subsections (1) and (2).

(4)  The Authority shall, by notice in writing, require the owner or occupier of any land on which there is any traffic sign or any object which so closely resembles a traffic sign that it might reasonably be taken to be such a sign to remove it and if any person fails to comply with such a notice, the Authority may cause the removal to be effected with as little damage as may be and the expense incurred in doing so may be recovered as a civil debt from the person so in default.

(5)  Subsection (4) shall not apply in the case of any sign or object which complies with subsection (2) and the retention of which is expressly authorised by the Authority.

(6)  The Authority may authorise the entry upon any land and the exercise of such other powers as may be necessary for the purpose of the exercise and performance of its powers and duties under this section.

(7)  In this Part, “traffic sign” includes all signals, warning sign posts, direction posts, signs, lines or other devices for the guidance or direction of persons using roads, but shall not include warning signs or other devices temporarily set up by any Government department to indicate that road work is in progress.

(8)  Any person wilfully and unlawfully damaging, moving, defacing, altering or otherwise interfering with, any traffic sign shall be guilty of an offence, and any police officer or the Registrar or any officer authorised in writing in that behalf by the Registrar on production of his authority may without warrant arrest any person found committing such offence.

(9)  The Authority, with the approval of the Minister, may make rules to prescribe the size, colour and type of traffic signs to be drawn or placed on or near roads.

(2)  Where a police officer in uniform is for the time being engaged in the regulation of traffic on a road at any place where there are traffic light signals regulating the movement of traffic, a person driving a vehicle shall comply with the directions given by the police officer notwithstanding that the traffic light signals indicate otherwise.

(3)  In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1), in so far as it is necessary to establish the offence charged, it shall be presumed until the contrary is proved that the sign was of the prescribed size, colour and type and that it was lawfully placed under section 119.

(2)  The Minister may make rules with respect to the precedence of vehicles and pedestrians respectively and generally with respect to the movement of traffic (including pedestrians) at and in the vicinity of crossings.

(3)  Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (2), rules made thereunder may be made prohibiting pedestrian traffic on the carriageway within 100 metres of a crossing, and with respect to the indication of the limits of a crossing, or of any other matter whatsoever relating to the crossing, by marks or devices on or near the roadway or otherwise, and generally with respect to the erection of traffic signs in connection with a crossing.

(4)  Different rules may be made under this section in relation to different conditions and, in particular, different rules may be made in relation to crossings in the vicinity of, and at a distance from, a junction of roads, and to traffic which is controlled by the police, and by traffic signals, and by different kinds of traffic signals, and which is not controlled.

(5)  Rules may be made under this section applying only to a particular crossing or particular crossings specified in the rules.

(6)  Any person who contravenes any of the rules made under this section shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction —

(2)  No vehicle which has been removed and detained by the Deputy Commissioner of Police or to which an immobilisation device has been fixed in accordance with any rules made under this section shall be released to the owner of the vehicle except —

(3)  Any person who, without being authorised to do so in accordance with the rules, removes or attempts to remove —

(4)  Where any vehicle which has been removed and detained by the Deputy Commissioner of Police or to which an immobilisation device has been fixed in accordance with the rules is not claimed by its owner within 3 months of the date of its detention or immobilisation, the Deputy Commissioner of Police may, after giving due notice in the Gazette and after giving not less than one month’s notice in writing to the owner (if the name and address of that person are known to him), sell the vehicle by public auction or otherwise dispose of the vehicle.

(5)  The proceeds from the sale or disposal of any such vehicle shall be applied in the payment of any charges incurred in carrying out the provisions of this section and the rules made thereunder and the surplus, if any, shall be paid to the owner of the vehicle or if not claimed by the owner of the vehicle within 12 months shall be forfeited to the Government.

(6)  Where, in pursuance of any rules made under this section, a vehicle has been removed and detained by the Deputy Commissioner of Police or an immobilisation device has been fixed to the vehicle, neither the Deputy Commissioner of Police nor any officer authorised by him to remove and detain the vehicle or to fix an immobilisation device thereto shall be liable for any damage to or loss of the vehicle or the contents thereof not caused wilfully or negligently by the Deputy Commissioner of Police or the authorised officer in the exercise of his powers under the rules or by any person acting under the direction of the Deputy Commissioner of Police or the authorised officer.

(7)  In this section, “immobilisation device” means any device or appliance designed or adapted to be fixed to any part of a vehicle for the purpose of preventing the vehicle from being driven or otherwise put in motion, being a device or appliance of a type approved by the Minister for use for that purpose in accordance with rules made under this section.

(2)  An employee or authorised agent of the Authority who has removed any vehicle from an expressway under subsection (1) shall take the vehicle to a parking place that is near to that part of the expressway from which the vehicle was removed.

(3)  A vehicle which has been removed from an expressway and taken to a parking place under this section shall remain at such parking place at the risk of the owner of the vehicle, and such owner shall be responsible for any parking charges incurred in respect of that vehicle while it remains at that parking place.

(4)  An employee or authorised agent of the Authority who has removed a vehicle from an expressway and taken it to a parking place under this section shall with all reasonable despatch give to the owner of the vehicle (if his name and address are known) notice in writing of the removal and the location of the parking place to which the vehicle has been taken, and shall in such notice inform such owner of the procedure by which he may claim the vehicle.

(5)  Any person who without the authority of an employee of the Authority removes any vehicle from a parking place to which it has been taken under subsection (2) or otherwise tampers with such vehicle shall be guilty of an offence.

(6)  Where a vehicle has been removed from an expressway and taken to a parking place under this section, neither the Authority nor any of its employees or authorised agents who effected the removal shall be liable for any damage to or loss of the vehicle or the contents thereof not caused wilfully or negligently by the Authority or by any of its employees or authorised agents in the exercise of their powers under this section or by any person acting under the direction of any employee or authorised agent of the Authority.

(7)  The costs and expenses (as determined by the Authority) of removing any vehicle and of taking the vehicle to a parking place under this section shall be borne by the owner of the vehicle and if such costs and expenses are not paid upon demand therefor, they may be recovered from the owner of the vehicle as a debt due to the Authority.

(8)  If a vehicle is not claimed by its owner within one month of the date on which it was taken to a parking place under subsection (2), the Authority, after giving one month’s notice in the Gazette of its intention to do so, may sell the vehicle by public auction or otherwise dispose of the vehicle.

(9)  The proceeds, if any, from the sale or disposal of any vehicle under subsection (8) shall be applied in payment of —

(10)  The Authority may waive, in whole or in part, the costs and expenses of the removal of a vehicle as referred to in subsection (7).

(11)  Except as provided in subsection (1), any person who, without the prior authorisation of the Authority, tows any stationary vehicle from a tunnel forming part of an expressway shall be guilty of an offence.

(12)  In this section —

(2)  For the purpose of proceedings for an offence in connection with any such vehicle against any person other than the driver of the vehicle, the person nominated in that behalf by the department in whose service the vehicle is used shall be deemed to be the person actually responsible, unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the court that the driver only was responsible.

(2)  The owner of the goods vehicle shall in all cases also be liable for such act equally with and independently of the person actually driving or using the goods vehicle unless he proves that he had taken every reasonable precaution to prevent the commission of any offence under this section.

(3)  The Registrar or any officer in charge of any police station may, on payment of the prescribed fee, issue a permit in the prescribed form authorising for a particular occasion the carriage of persons in or on a goods vehicle in any case in which he is satisfied that the carriage of such persons is consistent with safety.

(4)  Such permit shall be subject to such conditions as may be specified therein.

(5)  Any person who while being carried on or being permitted to ride on a goods vehicle —

(2)  Such person shall not be arrested if he satisfies the police officer as to his name and residence in Singapore and that he does not intend to abscond.

(3)  A police officer may detain any bicycle or tricycle in respect of which an offence has been committed within his view.

(4)  A police officer in uniform may stop any motor vehicle the driver of which has committed or is suspected of having committed an offence under this Act.

(5)  Any person driving a motor vehicle shall stop the motor vehicle on being so required by a police officer in uniform, and if he fails to do so he shall be guilty of an offence.

(6)  A police officer in uniform may, except as hereinafter provided, arrest without warrant any person in charge of or driving a motor vehicle who has committed or is suspected of having committed an offence under this Act.

(7)  The power of arrest under subsection (6) shall not be exercised if either —

(8)  If the police officer has reason to suspect that a name or address so ascertained or given is false, he may, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in subsection (7), exercise the power of arrest under subsection (6).

(9)  The Registrar or any officer authorised in writing by the Registrar in that behalf on production of such authority or any police officer may stop any vehicle other than a motor vehicle, and any police officer in uniform may stop any motor vehicle, for the purpose of examining the licence of any such vehicle.

(10)  Any person driving a vehicle shall stop the vehicle on being so required by the Registrar or any such officer under subsection (9), and if he fails to do so he shall be guilty of an offence.

(11)  Any police officer in uniform may, when exercising any of the powers conferred by subsection (4), (6) or (9), require any person, who appears to him to be or to have been a passenger in the motor vehicle in relation to which he is exercising those powers, to furnish to him his name and address.

(12)  When any such person as is referred to in subsection (11) refuses on the demand of the police officer in uniform to give his name and address, he may be arrested by the police officer in order that his name and address may be ascertained, and he shall, within 24 hours from the arrest, be taken before a Magistrate’s Court, unless before that time his name and address are ascertained, in which case such person shall be immediately released on his executing a bond with or without sureties for his appearance before a Magistrate’s Court, if so required.

(13)  When any person is taken before a Magistrate’s Court under subsection (12), the Court shall require him to execute a bond with or without a surety for his appearance before a Magistrate’s Court, if so required.

(2)  Any person who —

(3)  If any person refuses to furnish any evidence of his identity when required to do so under this section or if the Registrar or an authorised officer has reason to believe that any information furnished by such person is false, the Registrar or authorised officer may without warrant arrest such person.

(4)  No person arrested under subsection (3) shall be detained longer than is necessary for bringing him before a court unless the order of a court for his detention is obtained.

(5)  In this section —

(6)  For the purpose of this section, the Registrar may, with the written approval of the Minister, authorise any employee of any omnibus operator to exercise the powers of an authorised officer under this section in respect of any prescribed offence that is committed within a bus interchange or on an omnibus.

(2)  It shall not be an offence for any person to refuse to comply with any request, demand or order made by any police officer not in uniform who fails to declare his office and produce his identification card on demand being made by such person.