Expressway speed limits in the statutory schedules

The Road Traffic (Restriction of Speed on Roads) Notification sets limits for the roads and road sections in its First to Sixth Schedules. Where no scheduled limit applies, the general limit is 50 km/h, subject to the Notification's separate rules for school zones, silver zones and Friendly Streets (Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, rule 2).

Under the current Road Traffic (Restriction of Speed on Roads) Notification, a motor vehicle must not exceed the speed specified for a road or part of a road in the First to Sixth Schedules. Where no scheduled road limit applies, the general limit is 50 km/h (Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, rule 2).

Road-section limits are not the only applicable caps. The separate Road Traffic (Regulation of Speed) Rules prescribe maximum speeds for some vehicle classes and state that a lower road restriction in the Notification still applies. Drivers must comply with the lower applicable limit; the vehicle classes and their limits are summarized in speed-limits (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Regulation of Speed) Rules, r. 3 and Schedule).

The Notification has a limited exception where compliance would likely hinder the vehicle's use for its stated purpose. It does not apply in that circumstance to a fire engine used for firefighting, preserving life or property, or rescue; an authorised ambulance attending a medical emergency; or a Government vehicle used by the Singapore Police Force or Singapore Civil Defence Force to execute its functions. An authorised ambulance must be covered by a valid Healthcare Services Act licence for a licensable healthcare service, or be Government-owned and used for Singapore Armed Forces or SCDF purposes. The Notification defines an ambulance as specifically equipped to transport and provide out-of-hospital clinical care during transport to people needing emergency medical treatment. This is an exception to this Notification, not a general exemption from other road-safety duties (Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, rule 3).

The Notification does not apply to specified fire engines, authorised ambulances attending medical emergencies, or government vehicles used by the Police Force or Civil Defence Force for their functions, where complying with the speed limits would likely hinder the vehicle’s stated use. This is a limited statutory exception, not a general exemption for emergency driving (Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, r. 3).

The Notification has a conditional exception for a fire engine used to extinguish fires, preserve life and property in a fire, or aid or rescue people in danger or in an accident; an authorised ambulance attending a medical emergency; or a government-owned vehicle used by the Singapore Police Force or Singapore Civil Defence Force to carry out its functions. The exception applies only if complying with the Notification is likely to hinder the vehicle's specified use (Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, rule 3).

Examples in the schedules

The schedules identify particular road sections and directions rather than giving one limit for an entire expressway. LTA’s Driving Rules page links to its “Check speed limits of all roads” service for a road-specific lookup (LTA, Driving Rules and Information).

These examples do not set one speed for an entire expressway. Check the current schedule and roadside signs for the specific section and direction being travelled.

Conditional emergency-service exceptions

The Notification’s limits do not apply to a fire engine used to extinguish fires, preserve life or property in a fire, aid or rescue people in danger, or respond to an accident; an authorised ambulance attending a medical emergency; or a government-owned vehicle used by the Singapore Police Force or Singapore Civil Defence Force to perform its functions, if obeying the Notification would likely hinder that vehicle’s use for its purpose. For rule 3, an “authorised” ambulance is one specified in a non-revoked Healthcare Services Act 2020 licence to provide a licensable healthcare service, or one owned by the Government and used by the Singapore Armed Forces or Singapore Civil Defence Force (Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, rule 3).

The notification sets a 40 km/h limit in a school zone when the prescribed sign indicates the zone. A school zone is a part of a road near a school and between the signs indicating its beginning and end. In a Silver Zone, the limit is 30 km/h or 40 km/h, depending on the sign used. A Friendly Street zone is demarcated by its prescribed start and end signs, and has a 40 km/h limit (Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, rule 2).

Conditional emergency-vehicle exception

The Notification does not apply to a fire engine used to extinguish fires, preserve life and property in case of fire, or aid or rescue people in danger or in an accident; an authorised ambulance attending a medical emergency; or a government vehicle used by the Singapore Police Force or Singapore Civil Defence Force to carry out its functions, if complying with the Notification is likely to hinder that use. For an ambulance, the Notification defines “authorised” as one specified in a current licence under the Healthcare Services Act 2020 that authorises a licensable healthcare service specified in that licence or government ownership and use for the Singapore Armed Forces or Singapore Civil Defence Force (Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, rule 3).

The separate Road Traffic (Regulation of Speed) Rules have their own exception: rule 4 excludes a government vehicle used by the Police Force or Civil Defence Force for its functions only where compliance is likely to hinder that use. The Notification’s emergency-vehicle exception should therefore not be read as a blanket exemption from every separate vehicle-class speed limit (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Regulation of Speed) Rules, rr. 3–4 and Schedule).

Coverage debt

• The schedules contain many location-specific entries, including kilometre-post and lamp-post boundaries, directions, slip roads and tunnel sections. This guide gives representative expressway examples rather than reproducing the full schedule; checking the live schedule remains necessary for a particular route.

Sources

• Road Traffic (Restriction of Speed on Roads) Notification
• Fifth Schedule
• Fourth Schedule
• Sixth Schedule
• Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Regulation of Speed) Rules, r. 3 and Schedule
• Singapore Statutes Online, Restriction of Speed on Roads Notification, rule 3