Drink Driving in Singapore
Driving under the influence of alcohol is one of the leading causes of traffic accidents and injuries all over the world. For decades now, the governments are trying to fight it by introducing more serious laws and penalties for drunk driving and more vigorous controls of traffic.
Despite some success, there are still drivers out there who still drive under influence, putting themselves and other people in danger.
In Singapore, the government is battling drunk drivers with very harsh regulations, laws, and penalties and since those were implemented, the level of accidents caused by driving under the influence has fallen.
1) Legal limits
In Singapore, if the driver has over 35 microgrammes of alcohol per 100 ml of breath or more than 80 mg of alcohol per 100 ml of blood, he will be considered drunk and fined by the police.
In some cases, the breath analyzer is not accurate enough, so the police will take blood samples just to be sure. However, if you get stopped by the police and you take the breath analyzer test, and you are under the legal limits, they still have the right to issue a fine even if your alcohol level is 5 microgrammes, which is basically nothing.
So, in fact, there is zero tolerance for alcohol and you should keep that in mind.
2) The Penalties
Penalties in Singapore are very harsh and for a first offence, you will be fined from $1,000 to $5,000 or you can spend 6 months in jail.
However, if you get caught for the second time, you will be fined between $3,000 and $10,000 and you will spend 12 months in jail! Let us repeat this once again. If you get caught the second time, you will go to jail for a whole year!
For people who get caught third time or more, the punishment is even worse – up to $30,000 fine and three years in jail! We are sure that there isn’t a drink that is worth losing your freedom for.
But this is not the end, these penalties are only for being caught driving under influence, and if you cause an accident or injury, you can expect even harder punishment and longer jail time.
3) The Court
Singapore’s traffic judges are very strict and they make sure that nobody gets away without proper punishment, so your chances to beat the case in court are practically none.
They can even sentence you to harsher punishments if they think that you deserve it. The evidence is always too strong to beat and they have police reports and all the details against you.
Since most Singapore’s roads are covered with cameras, there is certainly footage of you being pulled over and if you were involved in an accident, they will have a video of that also.
4) The Lawyers
If you think that an expensive high profile lawyer will defend you, think again. In most cases, having a lawyer present will only make things worse. They won’t be able to do anything since the evidence is very clear. However, in cases of accidents and complicated proofing procedure, having a lawyer present is recommended.
5) Our advice
As you can imagine, we strongly advise you to never sit behind the wheel drunk or even after one drink. You just never know when you will be pulled over and it can really ruin your life.
If you had a drink or two, take a taxi, since it is really not worth risking your life or somebody else’s life. However, if you get in front of a traffic judge, our advice is to not fight the case but to admit that you were wrong and to ensure the judge that you wouldn’t do it again.
Maybe the judge will have some understanding and be lenient towards your case.
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