A THEORETICAL EXPLORATION OF THE IRRESPONSIBLE DRIVING OFFENCES

Abstract

Disquieting problems afflict the way that the irresponsible driving offences in the Road Traffic Act—careless driving, inconsiderate driving, reckless driving and dangerous driving—are interpreted and deployed in Singapore. Four separate offences exist, yet they are interpreted and deployed interchangeably, demonstrating a lack of sufficient regard for the normative significance of the individuation of the different offences and the nature or extent of the culpable wrongdoing that each offence seeks to prescribe. In this essay, I seek to explain and differentiate the wrongfulness of the conduct that is criminalised under each offence and the offender’s culpability in respect of the different types of wrongful conduct. I conclude by offering theoretical descriptions of the nature and elements of the culpable wrongdoing associated with each offence.