SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): The alcohol limit determining drink driving will be more than halved, and the authorities are looking to reduce the maximum number of demerit points that can be accumulated to make it easier to suspend reckless drivers.
Announcing these moves on Feb 27, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Sim Ann said the road traffic situation here was deteriorating, and changes are needed to arrest this.
Road traffic deaths hit a 10-year high in 2025, with 149 deaths compared with 141 in 2016.
The number of elderly folk who died more than doubled from 11 in 2024 to 27 in 2025. All were pedestrians.
In her speech during the debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) budget, Ms Sim said lowering the alcohol limit for drink-driving offences is one such change that will be made to address the worsening road traffic situation.
The drink-driving limit today is 35 micrograms (mcg) of alcohol per 100ml of breath, and has remained unchanged since it was introduced in 1985.
This is more than double that of Japan and Taiwan, which have limits equivalent to 15mcg.
Ms Sim said the outdated laws in Singapore will be changed, with the limit to be lowered to 15mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.
Legislative changes will be made later this year.
The Driver Improvement Points System, more commonly known as the demerit points system, will also be tightened.
Ms Sim said MHA is considering reducing the number of demerit points that can be accumulated before a driver is suspended, and also increasing the suspension periods.
This means errant drivers may be suspended sooner and for longer periods of time.
“We will not decide on this lightly, but it may be necessary in order to arrest the deteriorating situation, increase deterrence and keep dangerous motorists off the roads,” she said.
She added that the authorities are also concerned over violations involving foreign-registered vehicles, and will be announcing details on several measures to strengthen deterrence and enforcement.
She also said penalties should be higher in cases where a driver puts another person in danger on purpose, and that this will be studied with a view to introducing a new offence to tackle such behaviour, with a higher maximum penalty.
Ms Sim said it is possible to achieve zero road fatalities, and Singapore should aim for this.
She noted that Finland’s capital Helsinki recorded zero road fatalities during a one-year period from July 2024 to July 2025.
The Nordic country is a strong proponent of Vision Zero, which aims to eliminate all traffic deaths and serious injuries.
The idea of zero road deaths was brought up in 2022 by the Singapore Road Safety Council.
Ms Sim said: “There is no reason why we cannot aspire to zero road fatalities here in Singapore. But it requires collective recognition that our road culture needs to change.”
She said that if one asks any group of road users, they would likely say the problem is with the others.
“When we talk to drivers, they will point out that motorcyclists or cyclists or pedestrians are at fault. If we talk to motorcyclists, we are likely to be told that it is the drivers who are the problem, and so on and so forth,” she said.
“It can be all too easy to disregard traffic rules or the needs of other road users, especially when we are rushing for time. Giving way does not seem to come as naturally to us as making sure that we do not concede any advantage to other road users. Can we do better?”
She said all road users, like drivers, motorcyclists, cyclists, mobility device users and pedestrians, will have to be part of the change.
She also spoke about how the Home Team will be leveraging on technology to deal with manpower constraints and evolving security challenges.
The Singapore Prison Service will be trialling a robot in the first quarter of 2026, to support officers during patrols and yard supervision, she said.
Named Protect, the robot is able to patrol autonomously and can be remotely operated to handle potential hazards during incidents.
For the Singapore Civil Defence Force, Ms Sim said they will be rolling out SG Alert from May 2026. It is a dedicated mass emergency alert system that can broadcast emergency alerts to mobile phones islandwide, or within specific geographical zones.
No additional app download is needed to receive such notifications.
Ms Sim also spoke about new Home Team initiatives involving artificial intelligence.
The Central Narcotics Bureau’s NarcoNet is an AI platform that helps with investigations by making sense of evidence and preparing the necessary documents.
The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority’s Matrix helps examine documents and extract data, with AI easing manual checks of documents submitted to the authority.
Ms Sim gave an update on R-Cop, the police’s AI chatbot that helps the public lodge clearer police reports.
She said since its rollout from October 2025, over 90 per cent of users gave positive feedback, and so it will be rolled out to more kiosks by mid-2026.
R-Cop and other police technologies have led to the merging of several Neighbourhood Police Centres as resources are redeployed more efficiently.
Ms Sim said there are plans for more such mergers.
She said while the Home Team presses ahead with AI, it is mindful that AI solutions must be trustworthy and delivered responsibly.
As such, the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) will develop a proof-of-concept for a centralised AI governance testing and monitoring platform this year to automate AI governance checks.
HTX’s AI specialist workforce has grown to 250 as at end-2025, and is on track to reach 400 by end-2026.
Ms Sim said: “The Home Team increasingly has to do more with less. That is why we must fully exploit the opportunities today’s technology affords us. Doing so allows us to maintain high levels of effectiveness, to continue to keep Singapore safe and secure.” -- The Straits Times/ANN
