More tried to escape road blocks in first 3 months of the year

SINGAPORE — The number of cases of motorists trying to make a dash past road blocks has increased in the first three months of the year, compared to the same period a year ago.

The police yesterday said this in a media release on the cases of three men who will be charged in court for evading road blocks.

Between January and March, 17 such cases have been reported, an increase of 10 cases compared to the same period last year, said the police.

In 2015, there were 44 reported cases of evasion of road blocks. The three men, aged between 24 and 31, were believed to have evaded road blocks conducted between Jan 17 and April 10. They will be charged between today and May 19.

Last month, a man caused a four-vehicle accident that left seven people injured when he allegedly tried to get away from a road block on Still Road South. He had sped off from the roadblock, leading to a car chase that resulted in the accident. When the police caught up with him, the man allegedly put up a fight and tried to get away. The man, 27, and his passenger, were later arrested for traffic and drug-related offences and investigated.

In May last year, a trio’s attempt to evade police checks set up near Shangri-La Hotel for a high-level security summit ended with fatal consequences for the driver, who was shot by a Gurkha officer after failing to heed repeated requests to stop. Drugs were found in the vehicle.

In its statement yesterday, the police said road blocks are set up to deter and detect crimes. “Members of public are advised to cooperate with police officers when approached during road blocks. Any evasion of a road block can potentially cause serious harm to other road users,” the police said.

Commenting on the rise in cases, Member of Parliament Desmond Choo (Tampines GRC), who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee for Home Affairs and Law, said this was a trend that should be monitored closely. “The drivers who try to evade roadblocks endanger not only the police officers, innocent road users but also themselves,” said Mr Choo. “Some of these drivers might have done so because they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In fact, they should never have come under influence in the first place.”

Adding that “Hollywood-style roadblock evasions are fictional”, Mr Choo said: “We must protect our officers who risk their own safety to protect our homeland. Police should ensure that we have sufficient safety measures, and toughen our laws if needed.”

A person convicted of evading a road block will be liable to a fine of up to S$5,000, or jailed up to 12 months, or punished with both.