Speeding with a foreign license

[SunnyBhai]

What will happen if I haven't converted my license yet if I get caught speeding? Will it be fine only or worse?

 

Thanks,

Sunny.

[Team_Commander]

It depends....

 

from what i know 1 guy i knew is a (turban sighn)ride license even though had malaysia license... what he had was for small bikes only not for those 400cc bikes...

 

when he got caught he kana fine of $6+k...

he went for jail 1 or 2 day also..

[kmax]

i know a guy who was caught for speeding when he was visiting singapore.

 

he just spent a night at police station when he was caught speeding in friend's car, normal fine for speeding then released.

[BlackBandit]

TS,

Are you on social visit or have you gotten your work permit/student pass?

 

Anyway, as long as you've been caught and cannot furnish an address in Singapore, you will be escorted to TP. Your stay depends on whether the offence is compoundable or not. If it is compoundable, you pay a fine and go home. If not, prepare to camp inside TP.

[SunnyBhai]

I have a work permit. My problem is with my work schedule i cannot find time to get my license converted. I just saw a person on a pedestrian bridge recording something, i was definately above the speed limit.

 

TP once had stopped me in a roadblock, but when i showed my license passport pass and bike documents they didnt say anyhting and let go...

[AcapAsyraf]

waAh foreign license eh? which country? why not try calling LTA and enquire... Maybe ur one international, so accepted luh.

 

Please contact THEM at 1800-CALL LTA (1800 - 2255 582) should you require any clarification.

[quickshift]

Dude.. whining on the forums will not save your butt if you were clocked by the coppers.

Regardless of what is being said here and all the sympathy and comfort extended to you, you will pay all your penalties and there is no any other way out of this.

 

But look at it in a positive way: you will pay for the knowledge which I hope will remain with you forever. I hope you realise that speeding a$$holes, especially those with Malaysian plates, I see on PIE every day endanger not only themselves but also those around them. I do not want to race them - it will bore beyond anything imaginable, all I want is to arrive to my destination fast, on time and in one piece.

And it makes me very angry when I have to sit in a jam whilst paramedics and police have to deal with the results of speeding or other equally stupid stunts on already congested Singapore roads..

 

'If it tastes bitter, than it is good for you', remember this saying?

So, take no offence, think about the whole event again and again and again until you see you were plain wrong right from the outset.

 

Ride safe!

[shunoski]

i think it's as good as riding w/o a licence isn't it? there no international permit for riding in SG, unlike driving.

[quickshift]

i think it's as good as riding w/o a licence isn't it? there no international permit for riding in SG, unlike driving.

 

As far as I know, an International Driving Licence is issued by the country where you reside and is a mirror image of your current Driving Licence of that country - if you are licensed to ride motorcycles, IDL will reflect that too. It just has some fancy graphics on it and says it is International...

 

SG TP don't give a toss about the issuing country - if you are caught doing something they consider illegal/dangerous, they will do you for that.

[frenchbiker]

Foreign conversion to Singapore license now is much more restricted, for bikes that is, they used to give you equivalence to your home license, but now they only give you 2B, regardless of what license you hold.

 

A friend of mine has been riding in Europe for 20 years, license 2 equivalent, then converted, but only got 2B, he was so disgusted that he bought a car instead. He did not want to go from a Honda 1000 CBRR to a Honda Wave!!

[quickshift]

Foreign conversion to Singapore license now is much more restricted, for bikes that is, they used to give you equivalence to your home license, but now they only give you 2B, regardless of what license you hold.

 

A friend of mine has been riding in Europe for 20 years, license 2 equivalent, then converted, but only got 2B, he was so disgusted that he bought a car instead. He did not want to go from a Honda 1000 CBRR to a Honda Wave!!

 

Known problem.. BUT.. not always and for everyone - I have numerous examples of 'like for like' conversions without any problems, although law says 2B if you convert bike licence.. This has become more stringent a few years ago.

I guess success greatly depends on a duty officer and his/her mood..

 

Under IDL you can drive anything permitted in that licence for 1 year.. What happens after.. I have no idea..

 

 

Ride safe!

[BlackBandit]

I have a work permit. My problem is with my work schedule i cannot find time to get my license converted. I just saw a person on a pedestrian bridge recording something, i was definately above the speed limit.

 

TP once had stopped me in a roadblock, but when i showed my license passport pass and bike documents they didnt say anyhting and let go...

 

Dude, you have to get it converted as there is a grace period given to you. If I'm not mistaken, it is a year. After that, you're riding on borrowed time..

[GuiNNeSS]

Dude, you have to get it converted as there is a grace period given to you. If I'm not mistaken, it is a year. After that, you're riding on borrowed time..

 

Err......a foreigner can only drive/ride a singaporean vehicle with a foreign licence for 6 months. Anything more then that, they need a Singapore licence.

[CoolieND]

If that is the case, then TP should change the information they've put on their website, which is the first place people from other countries will look:

A foreigner above 18 years of age and holding a Work Pass/Dependent Pass/Student Pass may drive in Singapore with a valid class 3, 3A or 2B foreign licence, for a period of not more than 12 months. A Singapore driving licence is required after 12 months. Those on short term social visit may drive with their foreign licence for up to 12 months each time they enter into Singapore . For licence not written in English language, an International Driving Permit or translation is required as explained below.

[Quincy]

Err......a foreigner can only drive/ride a singaporean vehicle with a foreign licence for 6 months. Anything more then that, they need a Singapore licence.

 

so is it 6 or 12 months

 

1year... & insurance company will come out with undertaking letter to ask rider to convert his license asap if he wants to renew the new next year...

[GuiNNeSS]

If that is the case, then TP should change the information they've put on their website, which is the first place people from other countries will look:

 

 

Why should they be changing their website information because somebody increased the grace period to One year already?

 

Just because I, (Someone on this forum remembers its as six months, means their TP official publications is wrong? Whatever gave you that idea?) corrected someone that its six months?

 

(BTW, can someone bring up the excerpts from paliarment discussion, presented by Ministry of Transportation which amended that rule to 12 months? And then we can further discuss why it was one year grace period for foreigners to ride/drive in Singapore with a foreign licence. Because our driving centres is not coping well with influx of foreigners as students?)

[GuiNNeSS]

Then another question.

 

Lets say a foreigner in this country, staying for more then a year, driving a vehicle for more then a year. He need to convert his licence. Does it mean that while he is converting his licence after a year in Singapore, he can still drive/ ride while he/she is waiting for his/her converted licence?

 

How long does it takes, to convert a licence?

[quickshift]

Then another question.

 

Lets say a foreigner in this country, staying for more then a year, driving a vehicle for more then a year. He need to convert his licence. Does it mean that while he is converting his licence after a year in Singapore, he can still drive/ ride while he/she is waiting for his/her converted licence?

 

How long does it takes, to convert a licence?

 

Any foreigner must convert his/her licence before the 1 year mark is reached.

If you have been in SG for a few years, never drove or ridden any vehicles locally, and then decided to convert - you might have a problem.

 

The conversion itself is a straight forward process - you just sit a police theory test (the one on computers with multiple choice answers) and if you passed it (you should, really ), you take that PASS slip they give you and go to the TP with all your documents and papers.. pay, wait for about two weeks or so and see your new SG licence delivered to you by mail.

 

Ride Safe!