No summons, but security convoys urged to obey traffic rules
Officers who provide security protection to the president and other senior political leaders have been reminded to make sure that their security convoys comply with traffic rules without compromising the safety and security of the VIPs they are escorting.
A joint statement to clarify this was issued to The Straits Times yesterday by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the police after an image was widely shared on Wednesday of a uniformed LTA officer apparently making sure that President Halimah Yacob's vehicle complied with traffic rules.
The car in the image was part of the Police Security Command (SecCom) for the President, which led netizens to speculate if it had been ticketed for an infringement.
No summons was issued, according to the statement.
It said an LTA enforcement officer was conducting a routine patrol in Prinsep Street at 4.15pm on Wednesday when he saw 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 the vehicle, in line with LTA's approach in enforcing this regulation, said the statement.
During their conversation, Madam Halimah arrived and was driven away without a summons being issued.
In this case, the SecCom ground commander had made a decision for the convoy to wait there for the President as there were no street-side parking lots available in the immediate vicinity that would have allowed the convoy to come quickly to the scene in the event of an emergency. - TOH WEN LI
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now