Driving in Singapore
However, exemptions have been made to allow foreign vehicles and construction machineries to utilise the road space of Singapore.
As such, vehicles with left hand drive configurations are required to either be driven with a sign indicating "LEFT-HAND-DRIVE" or towed.
The earliest roads in Singapore, after its founding in 1819, were laid out in the Jackson Plan of 1822 in keeping with Sir Stamford Raffles's directions.
[citation needed] These roads were fairly advanced for the time, with Macadam surfacing used on High Street as early as 1821.
If the person passes away, the licence will have to be surrendered to the Traffic Police for cancellation, similar to National Registration Identity Card (NRIC).
A person who commits 12 demerit points and is above 80 years old is subject to early termination of the driving licence indefinitely.
The system is meant to deter drivers from infringing the rules-of-the-road and, if they do, suspend their driving licence for a period of time.
Currently, drivers are given demerit points if they commit certain traffic offences such as speeding and passengers not fastening their seat belts.
The ERP scheme requires electronic gantries to be placed over the road at designated locations and that cars be equipped with an In-Vehicle Unit (IU), a rectangular device pasted on the inside bottom right of the front windscreen from the driver's view, which will deduct the toll price from a CashCard.
This information is processed and displayed in signs around the car park, directing drivers to areas where there are free spaces.
In the early 2000s, signs at road works were made usually black-on-orange and diamond- or rectangular-shaped, similar to the Taiwanese system.
For example, "road" is almost always "Rd" ("Avenue" as "Ave", "Bukit" as "Bt", "Boulevard" as "Blvd", "Close" as "Cl", "Central" as "Ctrl", "Crescent" as "Cres", "Drive" as "Dr", "Jalan" as "Jln", "Kampong" as "Kg", "Lane" as "Ln", "Lorong" as "Lor", "Upper" as "Upp", "Place" as "Pl", "Saint" and "Street" as "St", "Tanjong" as "Tg").
Otherwise at other times such as during red or amber light arrow signal, or when the coast is clear, motorists cannot make a discretionary right turn.
Due to the limited land space in Singapore, selected roads, especially those with more lanes have been specially designated as runways for aircraft in the event of an emergency or when needs arise.
Cars made in the EU and Japan do not need to pass additional safety standards to be sold in Singapore.
[12] Many regulations concerning buying and driving a car are administered by the Land Transport Authority, the successor to the Registry of Vehicles.
Red licence plates indicate that the car may be driven only during off-peak times unless a daily fee is paid.
[15] Since the end of January 2010, off-peak car usage is no longer restricted on Saturday, Sunday, and the days before public holidays.
[16] Off-peak licence plates bear a red reflective background on white font with a tamper proof seal.
Kei cars (like the Mitsubishi i, Subaru R2, and Suzuki Carry) are less common in Singapore, and are now limited towards the Japanese domestic market.
On the more expensive segment of the market, European cars sold in Singapore include Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, BMW, and others.
Non-Japanese Asian car brands sold in Singapore include Perodua, Proton, Ssangyong, Hafei Motor, Chery, Geely, Kia, Hyundai and BYD.
In fact, Singapore has become a major automotive components manufacturing base, as several leading multinational corporations (MNCs) have established international procurement offices as well as their Southeast Asia distribution centres.
[19] This is due in part to the reduction in the costs of COE and PARF between 2000 and 2005, which has incentivised owners to purchase new cars before their ten years are up.
[23] The incumbent retailers are vertically integrated, with their supplies of refined petrol coming from their refineries situated at Jurong Island.
[23] Potential new entrants to the market face high barriers to entry in form of additional premiums paid to acquire retail petrol sites that are planned for by Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) and tendered out by Housing and Development Board (HDB).
[23] With the additional application of discounts and rebates afforded through credit/debit cards promotions and brand loyalty scheme, consumers are able to enjoy a differentiation of petrol prices in the market.
[29] The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) submitted a report on Singapore's Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system to the World Bank.
[31] Wired described Singapore as a "living laboratory for Intelligent Transport Systems, a catchall phrase for high-tech strategies to gather data, manage flow, and inform drivers of congestion ahead", noting that traffic "does indeed move noticeably smoother here than in American metropolitan areas of comparable size—Atlanta, for instance.
Historic vehicles are exempted from these requirements, as they are able to register for a Classic Car Scheme which permits them to drive on the road for 45 days a year with proper sticker labels displayed on the windscreen.
