Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act 1960

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Coming into Force: 30 December 2000
• Act Number: (Original Enactment: Ordinance 1 of 1960)
• Enactment Date: 05 February 1960
• Record Number: Cap. 189
• Published date: 30 December 2000

Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act

(CHAPTER 189)

(Original Enactment: Ordinance 1 of 1960)

REVISED EDITION 2000

(30th December 2000)

An Act to provide against third-party risks arising out of the use of motor vehicles and for the payment of compensation in respect of death or bodily injury arising out of the use of motor vehicles and for matters incidental thereto.

[5th February 1960]

Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Motor Vehicles (Third-Party Risks and Compensation) Act.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “appropriate Minister”, in relation to the exercise of powers under sections 20 and 24, means — (a) the Minister charged with the responsibility for the Public Trustee’s department insofar as those powers are exercised in connection with the purposes of sections 5A, 6, 9(1), (2), (2A), (2B), (2C), (3), (8), (8A) and (9), 18, 18A and 19; and (b) the Minister charged with the responsibility for land transport insofar as those powers are exercised in connection with the purposes of any other provision of this Act; [Act 22 of 2013 wef 01/08/2014] “Deputy Commissioner of Police” includes any police officer authorised by him in writing by name or office to exercise the powers vested by this Act in the Deputy Commissioner of Police; “detention barrack” means a building or any part thereof which is set apart by — (a) the Armed Forces Council under the Singapore Armed Forces Act (Cap. 295); (b) the Commissioner of Civil Defence under the Civil Defence Act (Cap. 42); (c) the Commissioner of Police under the Police Force Act (Cap. 235); or (d) the Commissioner of Police under the Vigilante Corps Act (Cap. 343), for the purpose of persons serving sentences of detention under the respective Acts; [Act 22 of 2013 wef 01/08/2014] “Minister” means the Minister charged with the responsibility for land transport; [Act 22 of 2013 wef 01/08/2014] “motor vehicle” means a mechanically propelled vehicle intended or adapted for use on roads; “place of detention” means any of the following places: (a) a detention barrack; (b) a disciplinary barrack within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Singapore Armed Forces Act; (c) a military prison within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Singapore Armed Forces Act; (d) a place or premises declared under section 18 of the Intoxicating Substances Act (Cap. 146A) to be an approved centre for the treatment and rehabilitation of persons who use or inhale intoxicating substances for the purpose of inducing or causing a state of intoxication; (e) a prison within the meaning of section 2 of the Prisons Act (Cap. 247); (f) a hospital or part thereof designated under section 3 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act (Cap. 178A) to be a psychiatric institution; (g) a welfare home within the meaning of section 2(1) of the Destitute Persons Act (Cap. 78); (h) any other place as may be prescribed by the Minister charged with the responsibility for the Public Trustee’s department; [Act 22 of 2013 wef 01/08/2014] “policy of insurance” includes a cover note; “Public Trustee” means the Public Trustee appointed under the provisions of the Public Trustee Act (Cap. 260) and includes a Deputy Public Trustee and an Assistant Public Trustee appointed under the provisions of that Act; [Act 44 of 2014 wef 31/12/2014] “Registrar” means the Registrar of Vehicles or a Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar appointed under the provisions of the Road Traffic Act (Cap. 276); “relevant amount” means $5,000 or, where another amount has been prescribed under section 20 by the appropriate Minister for the purposes of sections 6(1), 9(1)(a) and (b) and 18(4), the prescribed amount; [Act 22 of 2013 wef 01/08/2014] “road” means any public road and any other road to which the public has access, and includes bridges over which a road passes; “specified person” means — (a) for the purposes of section 6, a person who is entitled to the benefit of a payment, pursuant to a settlement agreement, referred to in section 6(1) and who — (i) at the time the settlement agreement is made, is not represented by a public officer or an advocate and solicitor; (ii) at the time of the making of the payment under section 6(2), is isolated in a hospital or other place under section 15(1) or (2) of the Infectious Diseases Act (Cap. 137); or (iii) at the time of the making of the payment under section 6(2), is under legal custody in a place of detention; and (b) for the purposes of section 9, a person who is entitled to the benefit of a judgment referred to in section 9(1)(b) and who, at the time the judgment is given — (i) is below the age of 21 years; (ii) lacks capacity within the meaning of section 4 of the Mental Capacity Act (Cap. 177A); (iii) is not represented by a public officer or an advocate and solicitor; (iv) is isolated in a hospital or other place under section 15(1) or (2) of the Infectious Diseases Act; or (v) is under legal custody in a place of detention; [Act 22 of 2013 wef 01/08/2014] “use” means use on any road. [21/73; 28/2000]

Users of motor vehicles to be insured against third-party risks

3.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall not be lawful for any person to use or to cause or permit any other person to use — (a) a motor vehicle in Singapore; or (b) a motor vehicle which is registered in Singapore in any territory specified in the Schedule, unless there is in force in relation to the use of the motor vehicle by that person or that other person, as the case may be, such a policy of insurance or such a security in respect of third-party risks as complies with the requirements of this Act. [23/98] (2) If a person acts in contravention of this section, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or to both. (3) A person convicted of an offence under this section shall (unless the court for special reasons thinks fit to order otherwise and without prejudice to the power of the court to order a longer period of disqualification) be disqualified for holding or obtaining a driving licence under the Road Traffic Act (Cap. 276) for a period of 12 months from the date of the conviction. (4) A person shall not be guilty of an offence under this section if he proves — (a) that the motor vehicle did not belong to him and was not in his possession under a contract of hiring or loan; (b) that he was using the vehicle in the course of his employment; and (c) that he neither knew nor had reason to believe that there was not in force in relation to such user a policy of insurance or such security as complies with the provisions of this Act. (5) A person disqualified by virtue of a conviction under this section or of an order made thereunder for holding or obtaining a driving licence shall for the purposes of Part II of the Road Traffic Act be deemed to be disqualified by virtue of a conviction under the provisions of that Part. (6) [Deleted by Act 10 of 2017 wef 20/06/2017] (7) This section shall not apply — (a) to a vehicle owned by — (i) the Government; (ii) the government of Malaysia or of any State thereof; or (iii) any visiting forces lawfully present in Singapore, on any occasion upon which the vehicle is being used by any person authorised by any of such governments or by any such forces, as the case may require, to use the vehicle on such occasion; (b) to a vehicle owned by a person who has deposited and keeps deposited with the Accountant-General the sum of $125,000 at any time when the vehicle is being driven by the owner or by an employee of the owner in the course of his employment or is otherwise subject to the control of the owner; or (c) to any vehicle at any time when it is being driven for police purposes by or under the direction of — (i) a police officer or by a person employed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police; or (ii) the Registrar or a person authorised by him to drive such vehicle. (8) This section shall not extend to invalid carriages. (9) The Minister may, by order published in the Gazette, amend the Schedule. [23/98]

Presumption as to using motor vehicle

3A.—(1) For the purposes of this Act, it is presumed, until the contrary is proved, that a person uses a motor vehicle on a road in Singapore if it is proved — (a) for a vehicle registered under the Road Traffic Act (Cap. 276), that the person is, at the material time, recorded as the owner of that vehicle in a register of vehicles; (b) for a vehicle the registration of which under the Road Traffic Act is cancelled under section 27(1) of that Act or has lapsed, that the person is last recorded as the owner of that vehicle in a register of vehicles; or (c) for a vehicle that is not registered under the Road Traffic Act and is not a vehicle mentioned in paragraph (b), that the person has a legal right to possession of the vehicle (including any person who has the use of the vehicle under a lease or hire‑purchase agreement, but not the lessor while the vehicle is being leased under any such agreement). (2) In subsection (1), “register of vehicles” means the register required by rules made under section 34 of the Road Traffic Act to be maintained by the Authority for the purposes of section 10 of that Act. [Act 10 of 2017 wef 20/06/2017]

Requirements in respect of policies and securities

4.—(1) In order to comply with the requirements of this Act, a policy of insurance must, subject to subsection (4), be a policy which — (a) is issued by an insurer who at the time the policy is issued is lawfully carrying on motor insurance business in Singapore; and (b) insures such person, persons or classes of persons as may be specified in the policy in respect of any liability which may be incurred by him or them in respect of the death of or bodily injury to any person caused by or arising out of the use of the motor vehicle in Singapore and in any territory specified in the Schedule. [37/80; 23/98] (2) It is hereby declared that a policy of insurance — (a) which was issued on or before 21st October 1998 by an insurer

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