Revised safe driving course to benefit more motorists

The Traffic Police (TP) announced that it will revise the Safe Driving Course (SDC) from 1 November 2017 to allow more motorists to benefit from it.

The SDC was introduced in November 2015 as a voluntary programme to help motorists who have accumulated at least half of the maximum allowable demerit points but are not yet liable for suspension, to improve their driving behaviour. Upon successful completion of the SDC, three demerit points would be expunged from their driving records.

Following positive feedback from participants who have undergone the SDC, TP stated that it will be revising the SDC to allow more motorists to benefit from the course.

According to Singapore Police Force (SPF), the SDC serves as a useful refresher course, especially for motorists who obtained their licence many years ago. To increase the number of people who can benefit from the SDC, TP said that it will make the following revisions:

• Lower the minimum number of demerit points that a motorist must have accumulated before he is eligible to attend the SDC:

1. from 12 to 8 demerit points if his licence has not been suspended before; and
2. from 6 to 4 demerit points if his licence has been suspended before.

• Allow eligible motorists to attempt the SDC twice in any ten-year window, subject to a gap of at least one year between SDC attempts, instead of a maximum of two attempts within a lifetime previously.

To make the SDC more effective, TP added that it will also increase the duration of the practical component of the SDC from 30 to 50 minutes. Given the added rigour of the SDC, motorists who successfully complete the SDC will now have four demerit points expunged from their driving records, instead of three.

“These changes will allow motorists to correct their driving behaviour earlier, and encourage them to practise safe driving habits,” it stated.

Source: SPF.

TP noted that motorists who are eligible for the revised SDC will be informed by TP to register for the course at one of the three driving schools [i.e. ComfortDelGro Driving Centre (CDC), Bukit Batok Driving Centre (BBDC), and Singapore Safety Driving Centre (SSDC)].

It stated that the public may contact these three driving schools or visit https://www.police.gov.sg/ for more information on the revised SDC.

TP stressed that it encourages more motorists to make use of the SDC to improve their driving habits, and help make the roads in Singapore safer.