3,283 drink-drivers disqualified from driving between 2023 and 2025; 40 handed lifetime ban
Claudia Tan
The Straits Times
Aug 5, 2026
A total of 3,283 drink-drivers were disqualified from driving between 2023 and 2025, or an average of three people a day.
In a written reply to Parliament, Senior Minister K. Shanmugam said 40 of the motorists were handed a lifetime driving disqualification. The average disqualification period for the rest was 38 months.
Shanmugam, who is also the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs, was responding to a question by Workers’ Party MP Jamus Lim (Sengkang GRC) on Aug 4.
Lim had asked about the average duration of a driving ban, the fines meted out and duration of incarceration among those who have been sentenced to jail time.
Shanmugam said that 5,176 people were arrested for drink-driving between 2023 and 2025. Fines were imposed in 3,020 cases, with offenders having to pay about $5,200 on average.
A total of 647 offenders were imprisoned, with the average sentence being 45 days.
Shanmugam said that arrest and sentencing statistics are not directly comparable, as offenders may only be prosecuted or sentenced in a later year following investigations and court processes.
Figures released by the Traffic Police in December 2025 showed that 1,173 people were arrested for drink-driving in the first eight months of 2025, up from 1,130 during the same period in 2024.
In total, there were 156 accidents, including 12 fatal crashes, due to drink-driving in 2025.
A new law was passed in Parliament on Aug 4, lowering the alcohol limits for drivers from 35 micrograms (mcg) of alcohol per 100ml of breath to 15mcg.
The blood alcohol limit of 80 milligrams (mg) of alcohol per 100ml, was lowered to 30mg.
Under the new law, first-time offenders with very high blood alcohol levels, who are typically fined and banned from driving, might face up to 12 months’ jail.
Traffic Police can also prosecute drink-drivers with evidence from a new handheld breathalyser, which can capture more accurate alcohol levels at the roadside.
This removes the need to take the driver to the police lock-up for a breath test.
TP will also no longer need explicit authorisation from a doctor for a blood sample to be drawn.
Lee Shi Nan was among those barred from driving for life. He was handed a lifetime driving ban in March 2023 after three prior drink-driving convictions.
A subsequent appeal against the ban was rejected by the High Court.
It upheld his sentence of eight weeks’ jail and a $10,000 fine, alongside the driving disqualification.
Despite the ban, Lee was back in court in July, where he was charged with several traffic offences, including drink-driving and driving a car despite his disqualification.
According to charge sheets, Lee allegedly had at least 135mg of alcohol in 100ml of his blood, which is over the prescribed limit of 80mg, when he was stopped by a police officer in Airport Road on Sept 10, 2025.
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