SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) wants to widen the dragnet on the worsening problem of motorists using their mobile phones while behind the wheel.

In proposed changes to the Road Traffic Act tabled yesterday, motorists who hold and operate any function of mobile communication devices, including tablet computers, will be committing an offence. This means checking of e-mails or flicking through one’s Facebook account will be disallowed, if the legislative changes are passed.

Existing laws only prohibit motorists from holding their mobile phones and communicating with another person, such as sending text messages or taking a phone call, while they are driving.

The proposed amendments, however, do not extend to the use of mobile communication devices that are mounted on a holder. In response to queries, an MHA spokesperson said: “Under the proposed amendments, the offence would apply if the person is holding a mobile communication device, which would include mobile telephones and tablet devices, in at least one hand and operates any function of the device while driving.”

Traffic Police figures showed that the number of summonses issued to motorists using their mobile phones while driving has increased over the years, from 2,817 in 2011 to 2,938 in 2012 and 3,572 last year.

In the first six months of this year, 1,761 summonses were issued, slightly higher than the 1,700 issued in the same period last year.

Other changes proposed in the Bill include making motorists more responsible road users. For instance, drivers who knock into parked vehicles or structures will be expected to provide their particulars to the owners even if no one had witnessed the accident. The vehicle owner who fails to provide the Traffic Police with the particulars of the driver who committed certain traffic offences will also be presumed to be responsible.

Alongside these enhancements to enforcement powers, the Traffic Police is also asking to be allowed to direct poor drivers to go for a new safe driving course — a move that will be especially significant for new drivers.

Motorists who have accumulated half or more of their maximum allowable demerit points will be eligible for the corrective training course, should they choose to sign up for it. Those who pass will have three demerit points removed from their records.

This means that rookie drivers on probation who incur six or more demerit points in their first year of driving — the maximum they can incur is 12 points — will receive a lifeline if they pass the course.

Another proposed amendment involves requiring work pass holders who need to drive as part of their job to obtain a local driving licence within six months from the date their work passes were issued.

These are part of efforts to ensure both local and foreign motorists are familiar with Singapore’s traffic rules and conditions, and are sufficiently competent to drive on our roads, said the MHA. Tan Shi Wei