Alcohol limit for drink driving to be lowered by more than half

Another move to improve the road traffic situation is to tighten demerit points system

- David Sun Correspondent

The alcohol limit determining drink driving will be more than halved, and the authorities are looking to reduce the maximum number of demerit points that can be accumulated to make it easier to suspend reckless drivers.

Announcing these moves on Feb 27, Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Sim Ann said the road traffic situation here is deteriorating, and changes are needed to arrest this.

Road traffic deaths hit a 10-year high in 2025, with 149 deaths compared with 141 in 2016.

The number of elderly folk who died more than doubled from 11 in 2024 to 27 in 2025. All were pedestrians.

In her speech during the debate on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) budget, Ms Sim said lowering the alcohol limit for drink-driving offences is one such change that will be made to address the worsening road traffic situation.

The drink-driving limit today is 35 micrograms (mcg) of alcohol per 100ml of breath, and has remained unchanged since it was introduced in 1985.

This is more than double that of Japan and Taiwan, which have limits equivalent to 15mcg.

Ms Sim said the outdated laws in Singapore will be changed, with the limit to be lowered to 15mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Legislative changes will be made later this year.

The Driver Improvement Points System, more commonly known as the demerit points system, will also be tightened.

Ms Sim said MHA is considering reducing the number of demerit points that can be accumulated before a driver is suspended, and also increasing the length of the suspension period.

This means errant drivers may be suspended sooner and for a longer period of time.