Singaporean president’s car escapes summons

Officers who provide security protection to the Singaporean president and other senior political leaders have been reminded to make sure their security convoys comply with traffic rules, without compromising the safety and security of the VIPs they are escorting.

A joint statement to clarify this was issued to The Straits Times on Friday (Dec 22) by the Land Transport Authority and police after an image was widely shared on Wednesday of a uniformed LTA officer apparently enforcing traffic rules on transport for President Halimah Yacob.

The car in the image was part of the Police Security Command (SecCom) detail for the President, which got netizens speculating if it had been ticketed for an infringement.

No summons was issued, according to the LTA statement, which also elaborated on what had happened in the incident.

It said an LTA enforcement officer was conducting a routine patrol along Prinsep Street at 4.15pm on Wednesday when he spotted two vehicles waiting along a stretch marked with double yellow lines.

The offence of parking a vehicle where there are unbroken double yellow lines can draw a fine beginning at $70.

The LTA officer approached one of the vehicles to ask the driver to move his vehicle, in line with LTA's approach to enforcing this regulation, said the statement.

The driver told the officer he was there to pick up the President. During the course of their conversation, she arrived and was driven away without a summons being issued.

SecCom provides security protection for the President and other senior political leaders.

The joint statement said: "As part of the security protection operations, the vehicle convoy is to be positioned close to the event location in compliance with traffic rules, to facilitate swift evacuation during contingencies.

"In this case, the SecCom ground commander had made a decision for the convoy to wait there for the President as there were no street-side parking lots available in the immediate vicinity which would have allowed the convoy to come quickly to the scene in the event of an emergency.

"The police have reviewed this incident with LTA. SecCom officers have been reminded to park the convoy in compliance with traffic rules, without compromising their mission to ensure the safety and security of those they are escorting."

Copyright: The Straits Times/ Asia News Network