The Land Transport Authority (LTA) issued a press release yesterday (Dec 22) acknowledging that a S$70 traffic summon was not issued despite confirming a parking offense because the offender is President Halimah Yacob. In a photo taken by a member of the public, the driver of the latest model of Mercedez E-class sedan was seen confronted by a LTA officer for parking at a double yellow line along Prinsep Street.
LTA legalised the corruption saying:
“No summons was issued, A 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 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, 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.”
However, the same law does not apply for everyone else. The instance one parks at a double yellow line will amount to an infringement and a ticket will be given by a LTA officer without reasoning. One will have to contest the summon in a court or pay the fine.
LTA, along with the Singapore Police, then claimed that parking at the double yellow line is now legal, so long as the offender is President:
“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… 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.”