In Singapore cars drive on the left, as in neighbouring Malaysia. This reflects their common history of British colonial rule, when British rules of the road were adopted across its Empire, which also included Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong in the Asia-Pacific region.
The per capita car ownership rate in Singapore is 12 cars per 100 people. This compares with the per capita rate of 46 cars per 100 people in Australia. In 2005, Singapore had the 24th highest per capita gross domestic product. For the same year, Australia was 20th in the world.
History
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. A grid system was adopted for the town with roads for carriages being 16 yards (15 m) wide, and those for horses four yards wide. Pedestrian paths along the roadsides were two yards wide, allowing room for two people to walk abreast and giving rise to the five-foot ways that came to be associated with the sheltered walkways along roadside shops.
These roads were fairly advanced for the time, with Macadam surfacing used on High Street, Singapore as early as 1821. Roads were also constructed across the rest of the island, although they were usually unsurfaced. By 1842, Changi Point in the eastern tip was accessible via an extension of Geylang Road, while Pasir Panjang Road reached Jurong River in the west. The Bukit Timah Road was also extended to Kranji in the north by 1845, where the nearby Johor-Singapore Causeway was built almost 80 years later in 1924. Even so, only about 340 kilometres of road were built in the century after 1820, compared to more than 2,000 kilometres in the four decades after 1965.
As with many other urban areas of the time, the earliest modes of road transport were via ponies, and then horse-drawn carriages. Batak ponies from the Sultanate of Deli in Sumatra were introduced into the Malaya in the Dutch era, and were often called palonguins or later gharries . They proved too small for the larger carriages introduced later by the Europeans, whose parades were used as fashion statements for the social elite around the Padang and were soon joined by their affluent Chinese and Arabic counterparts. So important were these parades in the networking opportunities they provided that merchants were known to voluntarily pay to build the public roads or to speed up road construction. Collyer Quay, for example, was constructed purely by private funding.
The most well-to-do would typically own their carriages and horses, often employing native Indian servants (popularly known as Syces ) to maintain them. Carriages for hire soon became available as well, with hackneys and gharries being the earliest forms of taxis in Singapore. Another early use of pony-drawn carriages was that of the Singapore Fire Brigade, the predecessor of today's Singapore Civil Defence Force.
Driving license
Obtaining a driving license
Class 3/3A
A class 3 or class 3A license permits the holder to drive motorcars weighing less than 3000 kg when unladen and may not carry more than 7 passengers, excluding the driver. In addition, the holder may drive a motor tractor or other motor vehicles with an unladen weight of less than 2500 kg. A class 3A license limits the holder to drive motor vehicles without a clutch pedal, typically automatic transmission cars, whereas a class 3 license allows the holder to drive all motor vehicles. Class 3A drivers may be optional to drive manual transmission cars.
Drivers must be 18 years old in order to qualify for a license including applying for theory lessons. Once a driver passes the Basic Theory Test (BTT), (s)he must apply for a Provisional Driving License (PDL), which lasts for six months, before taking practical driving lesson. However, a student can choose to apply and pass the Final Theory Test (FTT) before applying for a PDL and starting driving lessons. The last stage of obtaining a driving license is the practical driving test for which a student must have a FTT pass result slip and a PDL.
The driving theory tests each contain 50 questions and last for 50 minutes, with a pass mark of 45 out of the 50 questions correct. Results are shown immediately after the test on the same touchscreen monitor. There are a few websites offering online question banks which students can use them for practice like "ACE Online" . http://www.aceonline.com.sg . , "SingaporeTests.com" . http://www.singaporetests.com . and "SGDriving.net" . http://www.sgdriving.net . . There are also textbooks available offering similar practice questions.
Driving with a Foreign licence in Singapore
Visitors (without student pass, work permit, employment pass or Singapore Permanent Resident, or other social passes) who have been in Singapore less than six months may drive with their foreign-issued licence. Conversion to a Singapore license is often possible by passing only the Basic Theory Test if the foreign issued licence has not expired. No practical test is required.
Renewal of License
No renewal of a driving licence is required for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents since the introduction of the photocard license. The driving license is valid to age 65.
After age 65, a medical check up every 3 years is required to renew their motorcar and/or motorcycle license (Class 3/3A/2B/2C/2). For goods vehicles (Class 4/5), annual renewals requiring annual medical checkups are required until they reach the upper limit of 70 years old.
Foreign drivers in Singapore
Foreigners who have converted to/obtain a Singapore license are supplied with a limited-duration license which needs to be renewed between 1 month before expiry to 3 years after expiry.
After this period, the conversion procedure or licensing theory and practical tests must be done all over again.
Riding motorcycles registered on a different holder
In Singapore, it is illegal to ride a motorcycle if the rider's name is not entered in the insurance contract. For each motorcycle, only one co-rider can be entered.
Driver Improvement Points System
The Driver Improvement Points System (DIPS) is a system whereby demerit points will be added to the driver's record. The system is meant to deter drivers from infriging the rules-of-the-road and if they do, suspend their driving license for a period of time. This system requires offenders to re-sit and pass the driving test again from the beginning.
If a driver accumulates 24 demerit points within a period of two years, he/she will be suspended from driving for three months. If he/she had been suspended before, he/she will only be allowed to accumulate less than 12 demerit points in a period of 12 months. Initially, this system was only used for Singapore driving license holders until November 1 1999, the traffic police extended the system to foreign driving license holders which states that any foreigner who accumulates 24 demerit points in two years, will be prohibited from driving in Singapore for three months (first time prohibition) and up to a maximum of three years for subsequent offender.
Currently, drivers are now given demerit points if they commit certain traffic offences such as speeding and passengers not fastening their seat belts.
Roads in Singapore
ERP
Main article: Electronic Road Pricing (Singapore)The Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Singapore implemented an Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) scheme to deter traffic congestion during peak hours at various roads.
The ERP scheme includes an electronic gantries over the road at designated locations and cars are require to be equipped with an In-Vehicle Unit (IU), a rectangular device pasted on the inside bottom right of the front windshield from the driver's view, which will deduct the toll price from a CashCard which has to be inserted into the IU. It is a violation to drive through operating gantries without a topped up Cash Card in it.
There is no charge for entering the area during certain non-peak times.
Parking
The cost of parking in many upgraded car parks can be deducte
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