On October 26, Facebook user named Ong Boon uploaded a picture of the warning letter issued by The Land Transport Authority (LTA).
According to the post, the taxi driver received a written warning by LTA for “having failed to search the vehicle for any property accidentally left behind by the hirer”.
The written warning issued by LTA stated that “An investigation findings reveal that on Jul 9 at about 1.26pm, you (the driver) failed to search your taxi for any property left by the passenger at the end of the trip”.
“Hence, our investigation finds you liable for the offence of Failing to search vehicle for any property accidentally left by the hirer’ under rule 39(1) of the (Road Traffic Rules),” the letter added.
POST WENT VIRAL :
The screenshot of the original post made by BCL a local news and media site which posts about road safety went viral and LTA withdraws the letter issued to the driver by saying “that its intent was to remind the driver on such good practices”. LTA also agreed to review a rule mandating taxi drivers to search their vehicles for such items.
The driver had made an appeal against the warning to LTA through Member of Parliament for Macpherson Tin Pei Ling on Oct 11.
The MP wrote on Facebook,
Some of you may have come to know about my resident Mr Ong’s (taxi driver) recent grievance with LTA and that I had made two appeals for him. Along with my second appeal days ago, I separately asked LTA based on what did they conclude that my resident didn’t search the vehicle.
I’m glad to inform that LTA has acceded to my appeal and will be withdrawing the warning to Mr Ong.
I understand that the NTUC & Associations had also reached out to LTA about this specific issue. LTA apparently also will be reviewing this matter. You may wish to refer to the post by my fellow MP Yeo Wan Ling.
WITHDRAWN
The National Taxi Association (NTA) and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) advisor Ms. Yeo Wan Ling announced LTA’s decision of “withdraw & review” in a Facebook post on Friday (Nov. 11) early in the day.
Ms Yeo Wrote,
Our drivers have given us feedback with regards to the above incident, where one of our drivers received a written warning by the LTA for “having failed to search the vehicle for any property accidentally left behind by the hirer”.
Like our taxi and PHV driving community, the NTA and NPHVA are concerned about the warning received by the driver and we reached out to the LTA for an explanation and clarifications on behalf of our P2P community.
LTA clarified that this is a long-standing rule, and serves as a good practice on the part of the driver. The LTA has decided to withdraw the warning letter and shared that the intent was to remind the driver on such good practices and the LTA has never prosecuted any driver for such breaches.
Going forward, the LTA agreed to review the continued relevance of this rule together with stakeholders.
The Associations and NTUC Singapore believe that the safety of our drivers must be a top priority and their work conditions often do not allow drivers to “search for items accidentally left behind by hirers” safely and effectively. While it is a good practice to have, it should not be an obligation that attracts penalties. We thank the LTA for withdrawing the letter of warning to our driver and will continue to work together with the LTA and other stakeholders to support our drivers.
In response to media quires, LTA said that the rule requiring drivers to conduct the checks comes under the Road Traffic Act.
“This is a good practice that serves the interest of the drivers, as it minimises disputes when passengers leave belongings in their vehicles,” it said, adding that passengers are also reminded to be responsible for their belongings.
“Written warnings may be issued to drivers if necessary,” LTA said.
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