SINGAPORE — The people tasked with enforcing Singapore’s traffic laws are now themselves under scrutiny after a dashcam video appeared to show three Traffic Police outriders making questionable manoeuvres in front of another vehicle near their headquarters in Ubi.
The Singapore Police Force has confirmed that the three officers are being investigated following the circulation of the footage online, adding another layer of attention to road safety at a time when accidents and casualties across Singapore have continued to rise.
The incident reportedly occurred at about 3am on Sept 4, 2026, along Ubi Avenue 3, according to AsiaOne.
Dashcam captures tense seconds outside Traffic Police headquarters
Footage shared online by SG Road Vigilante shows the dashcam vehicle turning right from Paya Lebar Road into Ubi Avenue 3.
A ComfortDelGro taxi can also be seen making the turn from the outer lane.
Moments later, two Traffic Police motorcycles approach from the dashcam vehicle’s left before moving ahead of it and turning into the Traffic Police headquarters. As the vehicle approaches the headquarters entrance, a third police motorcycle makes a sharper right turn across its path.
The dashcam vehicle appears to brake to avoid getting too close to the motorcycle.
At least one occupant of the vehicle can be heard reacting to the manoeuvre in the recording.
AsiaOne described the footage as showing unsafe riding behaviour, but it is important to stress that the officers have not been publicly found guilty of a traffic offence. The matter remains under investigation.
Police confirm all three officers are being investigated
Responding to AsiaOne, the Singapore Police Force said it was aware of the incident.
Police confirmed that the actions of all three officers were being investigated and said appropriate action would be taken.
The force also stressed that it regards road safety seriously and expects its officers to obey traffic regulations while exercising proper care and attention around other road users.
That point is particularly significant because Traffic Police officers are responsible not only for enforcing road laws, but also for investigating serious accidents, carrying out traffic patrols, shaping traffic policies and promoting road-safety awareness.
The Traffic Police headquarters is officially located at 10 Ubi Avenue 3.
What Singapore law says about careless road behaviour
Under Singapore’s Road Traffic Act, motorists must not operate a vehicle without due care and attention or without reasonable consideration for other road users — the same legal framework cited in connection with the incident.
Whether the actions captured in the video meet the legal threshold for an offence will depend on the findings of investigators.
The footage alone does not establish guilt, and police have not announced charges or disciplinary findings against the officers as of Sept 13.
Why the video is drawing attention now
The controversy comes at a sensitive moment for road safety in Singapore.
According to the latest figures reported by CNA, 3,929 traffic accidents resulting in injury or death were recorded in the first six months of 2026, up 2.7 per cent from 3,826 during the same period in 2025.
The number of casualties also rose 3.6 per cent, from 4,973 to 5,151 people.
There was some improvement in the most serious cases: fatal accidents declined from 78 to 60, while road deaths fell from 79 to 61 during the first half of 2026.
But police said the longer-term trend remained worrying.
Singapore recorded 149 road fatalities in 2025, the highest number in a decade.
Motorcyclists remain among Singapore’s most vulnerable road users
The fact that this latest incident involves motorcycles also puts a spotlight on a group already heavily represented in Singapore’s accident figures.
Official Traffic Police statistics show that accidents involving motorcyclists increased 6.4 per cent, from 3,973 in 2024 to 4,227 in 2025.
Motorcyclists and pillion riders accounted for 53 per cent of road fatalities in 2025, while the number injured rose to 4,765.
The trend has continued into 2026. CNA reported that accidents involving motorcyclists increased another 4.3 per cent in the first half of this year.
Traffic Police’s own riding guidance tells motorcyclists to practise defensive riding, maintain safe distances, avoid weaving through traffic, remain aware of other road users and slow down when approaching bends.
That public guidance helps explain why a video appearing to show Traffic Police motorcycles cutting closely in front of another vehicle has attracted particular scrutiny online.
Singapore is already tightening its road enforcement regime
The broader road-safety picture has prompted authorities to increase enforcement.
In July, the Ministry of Home Affairs said Singapore’s traffic fatality rate had risen about 24 per cent between 2021 and 2025, while traffic violations increased around 38 per cent over the same period.
Traffic Police is also tightening the Driver Improvement Points System from Jan 1, 2027. Among the changes, non-probationary motorists will face suspension after accumulating 18 demerit points within 24 months, down from the current 24-point threshold.
Authorities have also been testing new enforcement technologies, including cameras designed to detect traffic violations and an average-speed enforcement system for expressways.
Police officers have faced traffic investigations before
This is not the first time the actions of an officer behind the wheel have come under investigation.
In June 2025, the Singapore Police Force said a Special Operations Command officer was removed from driving duties after a police vehicle allegedly collided with a cyclist along Keppel Road. The officer was investigated for driving without due consideration and causing hurt.
In another case reported by CNA, a Traffic Police officer was sentenced to seven months’ jail after speeding while on duty and causing the death of a 58-year-old pedestrian in 2023. The officer had been travelling at 108kmh on a road with a 50kmh speed limit while responding to an incident that was not classified as an emergency.
Those cases are separate from the latest Ubi incident, but they underline a principle repeatedly expressed by police: officers operating vehicles are also expected to protect the safety of the public.
The bigger issue is accountability on both sides of the badge
Dashcam and smartphone recordings have made road incidents increasingly difficult to ignore. A manoeuvre that might once have passed unnoticed can now be replayed frame by frame and spread across social media within hours.
But viral footage also requires caution.
A short clip may show what happened on the road without revealing everything that occurred before or after it. That is why the investigation — rather than online judgment — will ultimately determine whether any offence or internal breach occurred.
What is already clear is that the case places Traffic Police in an unusual position: the agency responsible for holding motorists accountable is now examining the road conduct of three of its own officers.
And with Singapore already confronting rising accident numbers, the outcome will be watched not merely as an internal disciplinary matter, but as a test of whether the same road-safety standards promoted to ordinary motorists are applied consistently to those enforcing them.
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