SINGAPORE – A motorist who flouted the rules by fixing red and blue blinking lights on his car has been punished by the authorities, but the incidence of such offences on Singapore roads is falling.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA), in an e-mail reply on Feb 5, said it issued about 4,000 summonses for common illegal modification offences in 2024, compared with 5,000 summonses in 2023.

Common illegal modification offences include the installation of air horns, tow hooks and decorative lamps.

Apart from motorists, workshops that provided illegal modification services also got into trouble, with 23 such workshops getting charged in court with the offence in 2024, LTA added.

In January, in two videos posted on the SG Road Vigilante Facebook page, a light-coloured car can be seen adorned with blinking lights that are festooned from near the top of the front windscreen.

One video drew 66 comments and was shared 210 times up until Feb 6, with some netizens asking in the comments space if such lights were allowed on civilian vehicles.

LTA said it has “taken enforcement action against the owner of the vehicle”, without giving further details.

An LTA spokesperson said: “Fitting additional lighting such as flashing lights on vehicles is not allowed as it may distract and disorient other road users.”

She added that motorists can go to the OneMotoring website for more information on vehicle modifications.

Earlier, in a Facebook post on Jan 3, LTA put up a post of another car, this one covered in fairy lights. It was among 86 vehicles caught in an enforcement operation in December 2024.

In another Facebook post on Jan 23, LTA said 24 vehicles were caught in the first week of the month for installing tinted films, decorative lamps, non-standard number plates and modified exhausts.

One driver who was caught with an illegally modified car said he had good reasons for fixing flashing lights to the car.

Mr Steven Lim was caught on Dec 31 driving a car with blue and red flashing lights installed on both the front and the back of the vehicle, Chinese-language daily Shin Min Daily News reported in January.

He said he switched the lights on when he stopped the car on the PIE to help the victims of an accident. He added that he is trained in first aid, and kept an automated external defibrillator, a fire extinguisher and stretcher in the car, which belongs to his wife.