Heftier fines for motorists who repeatedly park illegally

SINGAPORE — Motorists caught parking illegally will pay higher fines if it is their second parking offence within a year, starting next month.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) today (Dec 22) announced the introduction of a tiered fines regime, where motorists who receive their second Notice of Traffic Offence (NTO) within 12 months will have to pay a higher tier of fines. (See the list of offences and fines in the images above.) This applies to NTOs issued after Jan 1 next year.

Noting that this is the first adjustment to illegal parking fines in two decades, the LTA pointed out that about half of all illegal parking traffic notices issued between 2011 and 2014 are committed by repeat offenders.

Under the new regime, a motorist caught parking a light vehicle along unbroken double yellow lines, for instance, will be fined S$110, instead of S$70, if this is the second NTO he has been issued within 12 months.

The number of demerit points, which are meted out for more serious illegal parking offences, will remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, the LTA also said that CCTV cameras will be installed at 40 more locations by the first quarter of next year to enforce and deter illegal parking on a 24-hour basis. The LTA noted that CCTV cameras installed at 30 locations earlier this year has “resulted in significantly smoother traffic”.

Dr Chin Kian Keong, LTA’s Group Director for Transportation and Road Operations, said: “Since the implementation of CCTV cameras, we have observed improved traffic conditions along some stretches of roads which used to suffer from obstruction caused by indiscriminately parked vehicles, such as along Beach Road, Bishan Road and Pasir Panjang Road.

“Besides improving traffic flow for cars and other road users, our bus commuters have also benefitted from smoother traffic along these roads. We will continue to monitor the situation and review the need to install CCTV cameras at more locations.”