OPC Offender

[Boxster]

I have seen many of them drive with two of the tabs removed for year/month, but the day tab is still pending to be removed if chased by TP/LTA. I take a good look but ignore them and wish them good luck..

 

I believe tampering with coupons is more serious offence than not displaying one.

Attempting to cheat .

[Civicblade]

The government and LTA's aim for giving tax breaks to OPC is not because of the conjestion issue. Let's get it straight.

 

It is to let car ownership propagate to a wider segment of the population.

 

Lee Hsien Loong once implied the OPC is one of the ways to improve the standard of living for Singaporeans. Cost of car ownership was once so sky high that majority of Singaporeans can only dream of being able to drive your own car. Solution: Low cost of ownership if you forfeit the right to use the car during working hours+typical travelling time to work. He wants more Singaporeans to feel that they have good life and fulfil the dreams of couples, families with kids, etc to have a car. Take the public transport to work, drive your discounted tax breaks cars to the beach or shopping mall on weekends. According to him, that's a good life for some segment of Singaporeans.

 

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against OPCs. All I'm saying, the system is in need of some review. The timings may have been effective when it was introduced, but times have changed, road congestion situation has changed a lot over the years.

 

I have no objections against OPCs. In fact I would even support letting OPCs out during the day in between the 2 peak periods as there's not much congestion during this time. What I'm saying is... the aim of OPCs is to not increase congestion during peak hours, and it needs to be tweaked to achieve this.

[Harper]

haha... sound so much like mastercard... :)

[Flameevil]

u dun get the point of this thread... yes OPC timings are restricted, but of all the OPC owners, how many actually abide the rules?

[Sgnick]

Oh, but I do get the point of this thread. But my posts are not in reply to the thread topic, but are replies to individual posts here regarding the issue of OPC change to 8pm and reporting a rape. Why don't u read all the posts that I reply to (by clicking [in reply to]) to further understand my posts

 

To reply to your question, I don't know how many abid by the rules. Do you? Is it minority or majority break the rules?

Edited June 7, 2007 by Sgnick

[Ivan96935sg]

Why bother.........as the saying goes 'mind your own business'. Its mere jealousy if we're reporting them...as the winners are still garmen.

[Charliebrown]

would any of you report to the TP/LTA if you happen to see OPC driving without displaying coupons? some may think its unfair for them to be on the road during peak hours cos they got $17k and road tax rebate already.

 

report this, report that? Sporeans eat finish nth better to do?

How sure are u that they were driving w/o a valid OPC coupon?

Sometimes its hidden from our view, maybe drop? We nv noe.

If u wan to report, the driver gets stopped by the relevant authorities but he is able to produce the coupon. Den the person who reported it is wasting other ppl's time and resources!

 

Btw from the way u post, u seem to hate OPC.

 

totally agree!

[Charliebrown]

I hope I don't offend the OPC drivers here, but to me.. the OPC timings are not really "off-peak". Many of the roads are still congested at 7pm, yet the OPC cars can come out to the roads, contributing to the congestion. LTA has already acknowledged that peak hour is now extended later in the night by pushing bus lane hours back to 8pm, but yet OPC cars can come out at 7pm. A bit kuku policies by LTA to me .

 

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This is rush hour traffic. How many OPC come out at that time as compared to normal cars?

How about 730am-930am rush hour traffic? OPC are off the roads by den. So who do u wan to blame?

 

I believe the main prob is too many cars on the roads.

 

I think u mis interpret his sentence, he mean, since LTA revise bus lane hr to 8pm, and yet OPC still can drive before 8pm, wouldn't that be unfair to normal car who pay full rd tax? as for your arguement in the morning 730 - 930 am, yes, that is the morning rush, it got no link to the 8pm timing mentioned.

 

What about the 12 hours from 7am to 7pm that OPC cannot be on the road w/out the $20/-.

I think it is a fair trade-off. There is nothing unfair about it. If you want the $25K tax rebate, you too are entitled to it. Just go change your number plate to red.

[Charliebrown]

seems like most of the forumers will not report such offenders, prefering the TP to catch them red-handed. hopefully, when we see a rape or molest case, we will not have such attitude.

 

Hey man, they are 2 totally different matters. U are not comparing apples to apples .

[Vince69]

So if next time more and more car on the road, rush hours extend to 10pm... then OPC driver can only drive after 10pm???? or rush hours extend to 12 midnight, OPC driver can only drive their car out for supper only..... sigh.... leave them alone, not as if they commit a serious crime like rape or murder..... they like to take the chance, so be it... if kena caught, god bless them, becuase the garment won't..... just like sometime people tear parking coupon, eat 5 min hee, 15 min there.... we are all taking chance, if kena, LL lor.... and ya, don't know why some of you hate OPC..... they murder or rape your family member???? or you simply hate the Rad color plate.......... sigh.....

 

10pm...12mn...????

 

wah, those who drive to office before 7am type, all no need to go home liao...imagine after 12mn than can drive the car out to go home...

 

I think the previous weekend car scheme is better... think for Sat can start the family outings earlier ...

[Silver_blade]

Why bother.........as the saying goes 'mind your own business'. Its mere jealousy if we're reporting them...as the winners are still garmen.

Agree. The gov is the only one to benefit if we report. I think people who report it mainly do it out of jealousy which I find it's no better then those who scratch other car cos it's newer, better groomed, etc Edited June 7, 2007 by Silver_blade

[Gnoikj]

This OPC option is simply one of several measures the authorities came up with to deal with congestion...mainly, road space limited, singaporeans getting better off all wanna own car, this despite high vehicle tax and road tax..so...

 

COE comes along, Park and ride comes along, OPC comes along. The 'official' view is of course couched nicely, but from LTA's replies to public on OPC, they will always say its to address both needs, ie to allow enjoyment of car, + address problem of lessening road space...

 

Think most OPC owners are getting defensive over the posts here..The sentiment should be specified...it is not anti OPC. it is anti-OPC owners who abuse the system.

It is this group who seeks to benefit when they already have benefitted from the OPC system that should be held responsible...not the OPC owners who abide by the rules...

[Gnoikj]

Actually, put this way, we should also not report cases of petty theft or pick pocketting right? becos it doesn't benefit us...

 

 

The system is flawed. It allows some to take advantage over others...For instance, look at it this way. The OPC owners who abide by the rules are also victims here. See, they stick to the timing, they sacrifice in terms of NOT coming out during the banned hours. Then they come into MCF and hear abt some OPC owners who abuse the system and others jumping in to say "NOT Our business. Don't report lah. Benefit gahmen only" How do you think they will feel? Cheated right? It will then embolden them to test this out themselves. So is this the correct attitude to adopt then? We are not rewarding those who play by the rules, but are actually encouraging the cheats!

 

Similarly, when u see a crime in progress, by not reporting, you are not making it safer for others, you are allowing the culprit to get away or to propogate this action...

[Cristy]

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Agree. The gov is the only one to benefit if we report. I think people who report it mainly do it out of jealousy which I find it's no better then those who scratch other car cos it's newer, better groomed, etc

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dats a good one

[Silver_blade]

...we should also not report cases of petty theft or pick pocketting right? becos it doesn't benefit us...

No. We should report cos petty theft resulted on someone losing his/her property and there is a victim. But who is the victim in the case of people who cheat on OPC timing/coupon? LTA? These people are cheating on the system which many people from time to time had committed whether consciously or sub consciously.

 

There will be loopholes in most system and they are bound to be people who will push their luck a little. I'm sure most people has at one time or another cheated a couple minutes on their parking coupon or returned to their cars after the coupon has expired. People also make up some excuses in their appeal to the authority for parking/traffic offences in hope that it will be waived. Aren't all these cheating? Are we going to report those with expired parking coupon, etc every time we see one?

Edited June 7, 2007 by Silver_blade

[Gnoikj]

U must be legally correct when you use cheating here, but i won't go into that.

 

I'm asking a very simple question. When the OPC owner who adheres to the rules come into MCF, he sees your posts advocating that people who report on OPC flouters are kaypohs and should mind their own business, what will they think?

 

Very simply, they are the victims in this case. Because they suffer a loss as well. If OPC owners begin to feel that some can (and will) get away with it because people are of the view that no action should be done on the part of those who witness it, those who follow the rules will eventually be swayed to flout it...

 

My suggestion is simple. If forced to, OPC owners will sit up and KPKB if gahmen decide to electronically tag their vehicles. then who benefits? really only the gahmen...but can you blame the gahmen, or those OPC owners who follow the rules? No, if blame must be accorded, it is those who seek personal gain at the expense of fellow opc owners...those whom you advocate that we should ignore, and let go...becos for sure, they will continue doing that until they are caught...

[Nhyone]

Why bother.........as the saying goes 'mind your own business'. Its mere jealousy if we're reporting them...as the winners are still garmen.

 

If an OPC owner is not willing to use the $20 coupon, it's likely he wouldn't have bought the car or he would have chosen not to drive at that time. One less OPC car on the road is one less car to contribute to the traffic.

[Harper]

well, lets put it this way...

 

if the OPC driver is law abiding in the first place and only moves his vehicle during the allocated timing, they will not mind the electronic tagging...

 

i don't see why OPC drivers should be swayed to flout the rules in any instance if they are as mentioned earlier, law abiding, and that the penalty is just too heafty to justify the flouting of rules... i do agree with you that OPC drivers who abide the rule are also victims to those who flout it...

 

it may be even better to "electronicalise" the whole system for someone who simply just follows the rules as there will be no more tearing of coupons and mistakes to be made... don't see any reason OPC drivers will want to sit up and make noise to something that they have always been doing correctly? unless we're talking of privacy issues, etc...