A friend of mine was stopped by a cop last month and he received a summons for an offence which I had never heard of - stopping at a zebra crossing.

Obviously it is wrong to do something like that but do you know of anyone that has been caught for that before? 

This made me visit the website of the Singapore Police Force - specifically the section regarding DIPs (I wonder how many of you know what this stands for?) - the Driver's Improvement Point System i.e. the much-feared and hated list of the traffic offences that incur fines and...demerit points!

Other than some of the more 'popular' speeding offences, I was surprised (and ashamed) that I did not know many of them. So, after having a good read, I picked some to share with you and also included some of my comments in brackets.

3 Demerit Point

Allowing a child below 8 years of age who is a front/rear passenger to be secured with an unapproved child restraint (an important one, if you have kids of your own. By the way, you can read about child seats in our June issue).

Parking abreast of another vehicle (surely this deserves more points).

Using tyre with ply or cord carcass exposed (if you are ever caught for this, be thankful because the officer has just saved your life).

4 Demerit Points

Failing to give way to oncoming traffic at controlled junction (I wonder how is the officer going to give the driver a ticket when his car is all mangled and banged-up?).

Failing to give way to ambulance or fire brigade or police vehicle (this should 'cost' at least 12 points and if it costs the life of the patient in the ambulance, ban the bast*** for life).

Forming up incorrectly when turning left or right (I have no idea what this is - anyone?).

6 Demerit Points

Driving or riding against the flow of traffic (see the first offence under 4 Demerit Points).

Failing to give way to pedestrian at pedestrian crossing (this has become very common at zebra crossings and just last week, I was almost run over by a taxi as I was halfway across one!).

Careless driving (this is equivalent of msg in the cooking world - it can be used on almost anything).

If you want to find out more, visit this link:

http://driving-in-singapore.spf.gov.sg/services/Driving_in_Singapore/information_dips_offences.htm

In the meantime, don't be an idiot because the cops are everywhere (get a copy of our June issue and read about what I have to say in our Face Off feature).

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