Being in charge of a vehicle while unfit or over the limit
Road Traffic Act s 68 penalises being in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or public place, while not driving, if unfit through drink or drugs or over the prescribed alcohol limit. Section 67A can enhance sentence after repeated specified convictions.
Primary source: https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/RTA1961?ProvIds=pr68-
Section 67 (driving or attempting to drive while unfit or over the prescribed limit) is recorded in prescribed-alcohol-limit and drink-driving-disqualification. This article is the separate offence of being in charge while not driving.
The s 68 offence
Any person who when in charge of a motor vehicle which is on a road or other public place but not driving the vehicle (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 68(1)):
- is unfit to drive in that he or she is under the influence of drink, a drug, a psychoactive substance or an intoxicating substance to such an extent as to be incapable of having proper control of a vehicle; or
- has so much alcohol in his or her body that the proportion of it in his or her breath or blood exceeds the prescribed limit,
shall be guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $500 and not more than $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months, and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $5,000 and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 68(1)).
Deemed not to have been in charge
For that subsection, a person is deemed not to have been in charge if the person proves both (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 68(2)):
- that at the material time the circumstances were such that there was no likelihood of the person’s driving the vehicle so long as he or she remained so unfit, or so long as the proportion of alcohol remained in excess of the prescribed limit; and
- that between becoming so unfit (or first exceeding the limit) and the material time, the person had not driven the vehicle on a road or other public place.
Disqualification on a second or subsequent conviction
On a second or subsequent conviction under this section, a court convicting the offender is to, unless the court for special reasons thinks fit not to order or to order a shorter period, order disqualification from holding or obtaining a driving licence for a period that is equal to or longer than 12 months starting on the date of the offender’s release from prison (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 68(3)). The SSO extract notes Act 5 of 2026 wef 14 April 2026 against that subsection.
Where a person convicted under s 68 has previously been convicted under s 67, he or she is treated for the purpose of s 68 as having been previously convicted under s 68 (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 68(4)).
Any police officer may arrest without warrant any person committing an offence under s 68 (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 68(5)).
The prescribed breath and blood limits themselves remain those in s 72, recorded in prescribed-alcohol-limit.
Enhanced penalties after previous convictions (s 67A)
Section 67A is a distinct sentencing power. If a person who has been convicted of 2 or more specified offences is again convicted of any specified offence, and the court is satisfied by reason of previous convictions or antecedents that it is expedient for public protection or to prevent further such offences that punishment in excess of that prescribed should be awarded, the court may punish with punishment not exceeding 3 times the amount of punishment to which the offender would otherwise have been liable, except that where imprisonment is imposed it shall not exceed 10 years (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 67A(1)).
“Specified offence” in s 67A(3) includes, among others, offences under s 67(1) and s 68(1) (the latter committed on or after 1 November 2019), with additional listed provisions and commencement notes in the current SSO text (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 67A(3)).
Section 67A does not apply to a person convicted under s 63(4) unless the court is satisfied that in committing that offence and the previous one, the person had driven at a speed which exceeded by more than 40 km/h the applicable speed limit (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 67A(2)).
A District Court or Magistrate’s Court may award the full punishment prescribed by s 67A despite any contrary provision in the Criminal Procedure Code 2010 (SSO, Road Traffic Act 1961 s 67A(4)).
Coverage debt
- This article does not list every historical version of “specified offence” in s 67A(3); read the live SSO provision for the full lettered list and amendment dates.
- Court sentencing practice is not inferred beyond the statutory maxima.