{
  "id": 172880,
  "title": "Drink driving: 3,283 disqualified from driving between 2023 and 2025; 40 handed lifetime ban",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/05/drink-driving-3-283-disqualified-from-driving-between-2023-and-2025",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-05T12:02:53.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Straits Times",
    "slug": "straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/drink-driving-3283-disqualified-from-driving-between-2023-and-2025-40-handed-lifetime-ban"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Between 2023 and 2025, Singapore authorities disqualified a total of 3,283 motorists from driving due to drink-driving offenses, averaging three individuals per day. Senior Minister K. Shanmugam disclosed that 40 of these individuals received a lifetime ban on driving. The average disqualification period for the rest was 38 months. Shanmugam, who serves as the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, responded to a question from Workers' Party MP Jamus Lim on August 4 about the average duration of driving bans, fines, and incarceration periods. Shanmugam mentioned that 5,176 people were arrested for drink-driving during the same period, with 3,020 resulting in fines, averaging $5,200 per case. Additionally, 647 offenders were imprisoned, with an average sentence of 45 days.\n\nAs of December 2025, the Traffic Police reported 1,173 arrests for drink-driving in the first eight months of the year, a rise from 1,130 in the same period in 2024. That year, there were 156 accidents, including 12 fatal crashes, attributed to drink-driving. In response to the new law passed on August 4, the alcohol limit for drivers was lowered from 35 micrograms (mcg) of alcohol per 100ml of breath to 15mcg, and the blood alcohol limit was reduced from 80 milligrams (mg) of alcohol per 100ml to 30mg. First-time offenders with exceptionally high blood alcohol levels, usually facing fines and bans, could now face up to 12 months in jail. The new handheld breathalyser enables Traffic Police to administer roadside tests, dispensing with the need for transport to the police lock-up. Lee Shi Nan, among those barred from driving permanently, had three prior drink-driving convictions. Despite his lifetime ban, Lee was charged with multiple traffic offenses, including drink-driving, in July 2025 after allegedly having 135mg of alcohol in 100ml of his blood at a checkpoint in Airport Road on September 10, 2025.",
  "summary": "5,176 people were arrested for drink-driving between 2023 and 2025.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Straits Times",
        "title": "3,283 drink-drivers disqualified from driving between 2023 and 2025; 40 handed lifetime ban",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/05/3-283-drink-drivers-disqualified-from-driving-between-2023-and-2025",
        "published": "2026-08-05T12:02:53.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}