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Knowledge base Fitness to drive 5 min read

Drug and medication-impaired driving in Singapore

Current Singapore law prohibits driving when drugs or other substances impair proper control. An enacted 2026 amendment would add a presence-based offence for specified substances, but its commencement date has not been appointed.

drug-driving medication impairment Road Traffic Act section 67

Primary source: https://sso.agc.gov.sg/Act/RTA1961?ProvIds=pr67-%2Cpr72-

Drug and medication-impaired driving in Singapore

Current offence

Section 67(1)(a) of the Road Traffic Act makes it an offence to drive or attempt to drive a motor vehicle on a road or other public place while under the influence of a drug, psychoactive substance, or intoxicating substance to an extent that makes the person incapable of having proper control of the vehicle. The current provision is based on impairment and loss of proper control; it does not make mere presence of a substance in blood the test under this paragraph (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, sections 67 and 72).

On conviction under section 67(1), the statutory penalty is a fine of $2,000 to $10,000, imprisonment for up to 12 months, or both. For a second or subsequent conviction, the fine is $5,000 to $20,000 and imprisonment may be imposed for up to 2 years (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, sections 67 and 72; SPF, Penalties for Traffic Offences).

The related section 68 also covers a person in charge of a motor vehicle on a road or other public place, even if not driving, when impaired to the same extent. Section 68 provides a defence where the person proves there was no likelihood of driving while unfit and that they had not driven after becoming unfit (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, section 68).

For this “in charge” offence, the current first-offence penalty is a fine of $500 to $2,000, imprisonment for up to 3 months, or both. For a second or subsequent conviction, the penalty is a fine of $1,000 to $5,000 and imprisonment for up to 6 months (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, section 68).

Medicines and driving fitness

The Road Traffic Act's impairment offence applies to “a drug” and other substances; MHA has clarified that non-controlled drugs such as medication remain covered if they impair a person so that the person is incapable of having proper control of a vehicle (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, sections 67 and 72; MHA, Second Reading Wrap-Up Speech on the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2026).

SPF's Final Theory of Driving handbook advises people taking medication to ask their doctor whether the prescribed medicine affects driving ability; if it does, the handbook says not to drive. MHA likewise advises consulting a healthcare professional if in doubt and erring on the side of not driving (SPF, Final Theory of Driving handbook, para. 174; MHA, Second Reading Wrap-Up Speech on the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2026).

Enacted change not yet in force

The Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2026 will add a separate offence for driving or attempting to drive with a specified substance present in the person's blood. “Specified substance” covers controlled drugs, psychoactive substances and intoxicating substances. The Act also provides a defence for specified substances lawfully used or administered when the person did not know, and had no reason to believe, that this would affect their capacity to have proper control of a motor vehicle (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2026, sections 1, 11 and 19).

The Act says it comes into operation on a date appointed by Gazette notification. The current 2026 Subsidiary Legislation Supplement listing contains no commencement notification for Act 18; it does list a separate 2026 commencement notification for the 2025 Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act, which is a different Act. As rechecked on 15 October 2026, the new presence-based offence is therefore not in force and the current impairment-based offence above remains operative. MHA says the new offence targets controlled drugs, psychoactive substances and intoxicating substances; it does not apply to most common or over-the-counter medicines. Non-controlled medication remains subject to the current impairment offence (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 2026, section 1; SSO, 2026 Subsidiary Legislation Supplement commencement search; MHA, Second Reading Wrap-Up Speech on the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2026).

MHA says laboratory reporting criteria for the future offence are validated and specific to the substance and method, but it does not publish the numerical criteria in its speech. This article therefore does not state a concentration threshold (MHA, Second Reading Wrap-Up Speech on the Road Traffic (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2026).

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