Knowledge base Road rules Updated 21 Oct 2026 8 min read

Carrying passengers in goods vehicles

Singapore’s statutory rules on passengers in goods vehicles: who may be carried, driver, owner and passenger duties, and open-deck seating, height, space and capacity-label requirements.

light-goods-vehicles passengers open-deck

Primary source: https://sso.agc.gov.sg/SL/RTA1961-S663-2010

The Road Traffic Act sets the baseline offence and defences for carrying passengers in goods vehicles; the Road Traffic (Carriage of Persons in Goods Vehicles) Rules 2010 prescribe additional conditions for particular forms of carriage (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 126; Singapore Statutes Online, Carriage of Persons in Goods Vehicles Rules 2010).

Road Traffic Act permission and liability

A person driving or using a goods vehicle commits an offence by carrying, or causing or permitting, another person to ride in or on it unless they prove one of two cases: the passenger is employed by the vehicle's owner or hirer, is travelling on that employer's business, and is carried in accordance with rules made under section 77(6); or the passenger is sick or injured and is being carried in an emergency (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 126(1)).

The vehicle's owner is also liable for the act, equally with and independently of the person driving or using it, unless the owner proves that they took every reasonable precaution to prevent an offence under section 126 (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 126(2)).

A passenger commits an offence if, while being carried or permitted to ride on a goods vehicle, they fail to sit where the driver or person in charge directs, or fail to follow that person's directions about personal safety. The maximum fine on conviction is $500 (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 126(5)).

General statutory restriction

Road Traffic Act section 126 makes it an offence to drive or use a goods vehicle to carry a person inside or on it, or to cause or permit a person to ride inside or on it, unless the driver proves one of two exceptions: the person is employed by the vehicle’s owner or hirer, is travelling on that employer’s business, and is carried in accordance with rules made under section 77(6); or the person is sick or injured and is being carried in an emergency. The owner is independently liable for the act unless the owner proves having taken every reasonable precaution to prevent the offence. Where no special penalty applies, section 131 sets the conviction maximum for the driver or owner at a fine of $1,000 or imprisonment for up to 3 months, or both, for a first offence; for a second or subsequent offence, a fine of $2,000 or imprisonment for up to 6 months, or both (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 126; Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 131).

A passenger also commits an offence by failing to sit in or at the place directed by the driver or person in charge, or by failing to comply with their directions about the passenger’s personal safety. The maximum conviction fine stated in section 126(5) is $500 (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic Act 1961, s. 126(5)).

Open-deck vehicles

No person may be carried on the floor of an open-deck goods vehicle, whether seated or not, unless every passenger seat in the driver's cabin, or an additional cabin or enclosed space for passengers or goods adjacent to or extending the driver's cabin, is filled. This rule is subject to the separate height and minimum-space rules below (Singapore Statutes Online, rule 3). From 1 January 2027, a person must not be carried within a cage on the floor of such a vehicle; the related construction rule will also prohibit fitting a cage to the relevant part of the open deck unless the Registrar permits it. These amendments are not current law on this article's verification date (Singapore Statutes Online, Carriage of Persons in Goods Vehicles (Amendment) Rules 2026; Singapore Statutes Online, Motor Vehicles, Construction and Use (Amendment No. 3) Rules 2026).

While being carried on or permitted to ride on a goods vehicle, a passenger must not allow any part of their body to project beyond the vehicle's side. A driver must not drive, cause or permit the vehicle to be driven while a person is standing in it, except as allowed for a permitted attendant; a driver must also not carry a load positioned so that it is likely to fall onto a passenger (Singapore Statutes Online, rules 4 and 7).

For an open-deck goods vehicle, a driver must not carry a seated passenger whose height exceeds 1.1 metres measured from the deck (Singapore Statutes Online, rule 5). A driver must not carry passengers if the clear floor space of the deck available for each passenger is less than 0.372 square metres (Singapore Statutes Online, rule 8).

Before anyone is carried on the floor, the vehicle must display a marking or label showing the floor's maximum passenger capacity at the right side of the rear tailboard or another conspicuous place determined by the Registrar. The label must follow the applicable Schedule specifications. Altering or defacing it so that it no longer conforms is an offence for both the vehicle's owner and the person who altered or defaced it (Singapore Statutes Online, rule 9 and Schedule).

The Rules do not authorise carrying a person for hire or reward on a goods vehicle. A trailer may carry only bona fide attendants for attending to the trailer, up to the number allowed by section 77(1) and (2) of the Road Traffic Act (Singapore Statutes Online, rules 2 and 6).

Safety guidance for pick-ups and panel vans

The current Traffic Police Final Theory handbook says that unloaded pick-ups and panel vans may travel at higher speeds and their steering and braking may respond differently; it advises careful handling because skidding or accidents may result. It also warns that passengers should be properly seated: standing passengers can make the vehicle unstable, especially on turns or bends, and a sudden stop may throw passengers from the vehicle. This is handbook safety guidance, not a separate speed limit for unloaded vehicles (Singapore Police Force, Final Theory of Driving handbook, paras. 297–298).

The handbook describes speed-warning devices and side railings as safety devices for pick-ups. The statutory speed-warning-device requirement applies to goods vehicles with a maximum laden weight of not more than 3.0 metric tons registered using a certificate of entitlement issued before 1 April 1998, or not more than 3.5 metric tons registered using a certificate issued on or after that date; the Rules exclude a trivan and a motorcycle with a sidecar (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Speed Warning Device) Rules, rule 3). For vehicles covered by the Rules, the device includes a lamp and buzzer that warn when the vehicle exceeds its statutory speed limit (Singapore Statutes Online, rule 4).

Protective railings are also required only for the open-deck goods-vehicle classes specified in rule 51(4), including categories defined by laden weight, registration date and whether the vehicle is used to carry a person on its floor. Rule 51 sets different railing-height requirements for those categories; the handbook’s brief description should not be read as a universal requirement for every pick-up or panel van (Singapore Statutes Online, Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Construction and Use) Rules, rule 51).

Coverage debt

The handbook's broader description of light goods vehicles and any vehicle-class licensing question are not reproduced here unless stated in the current governing text.
Rule 51's detailed vehicle categories and railing measurements are not reproduced in full; check the current rule for a particular vehicle.
The cage prohibitions in S 472/2026 and S 473/2026 commence on 1 January 2027; this article describes them as future requirements as at 21 October 2026.