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Teenager admits using his mother's shared car account to book vehicle, got into accident. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/teenager-admits-using-mothers-shared-tribecar-account-book-vehicle-accident-2413886 SINGAPORE: A 17-year-old boy who helped his mother book shared cars rented a vehicle for himself using her account, but got into an accident with a parked car. The teenager, now 18, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Jan 4) to three traffic-related charges and a fourth charge of unauthorised computer access. A fifth charge will be considered in sentencing. He cannot be named as he was under 18 at the time of the offences and is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act. The court heard that the teen frequently helped his mother to book cars from car-sharing mobile application Tribecar. He did not have his own Tribecar account as he was underage, but he knew his mother's login details. In March last year, he changed the login ID to his own email, so that his mother would be unaware if he made any bookings. At about 10.30pm on Apr 6 last year, he decided to book a car for a joy ride the next day. He booked a Honda Stream and retrieved the vehicle from a multi-storey car park in Jurong West the next morning. After driving for about one-and-a-half hours, he entered a petrol station in Woodlands and tried to park the vehicle. However, he failed to keep a proper lookout ahead and collided with a parked vehicle in front of him. He apologised to the driver of the vehicle and exchanged numbers with him, but could not be contacted afterwards. When the teen's mother found out that her son had driven the car, she informed Tribecar and paid S$500 as compensation for the damage caused. The prosecutor said the teenager has no previous convictions and did not object to the calling for a probation suitability report. In mitigation, the teen said he regretted all the decisions he made throughout "these matters". "I hope you realise it was a very foolish thing to do," the judge told him, adding that it was a good thing no one was injured. "I hope it's something you remember - never to break the law again," he said. The judge called for a report assessing the teen's suitability for probation and adjourned sentencing to February.

http://www.mycarforum.com/blog/12/entry-3811-car-sharing-does-not-reduce-road-use/ Car-sharing does not reduce road use By ST_Opinion on 15 Dec 2014 in Engine, Hybrid/electric cars, Motoring, Discussions, Singapore car news, Other News, Other blogs, ST Opinion How would an electric car- sharing scheme further our ambition to be "car-lite"? In short, it does not. Car-sharing schemes, electric or otherwise, will actually lead to higher utilisation of road space, not less. And as the whole purpose of going "car-lite" is to put a cap on congestion, car-sharing does not quite serve the cause. Former Transport Minister Raymond Lim told Parliament in 2010: "From an overall transport perspective, more people sharing a car in effect increases the use of that car." Furthermore, Singapore already has an absolute cap on its car population, via the vehicle quota system. In countries where there is no such control, a car-sharing scheme might conceivably reduce overall car demand marginally. Not so in Singapore, where the quota system has been in place since 1990. In Singapore, car-sharing schemes will only lead to a greater demand for road space. If the end goal is to reduce demand for road space, then we need to ramp up our public transport system, improve how our taxis are deployed, and make it easier for people to share rides. Ride-sharing - or car-pooling as it is more commonly called - reduces demand for road space. So, why are we launching an electric car-sharing scheme? One theory is that it is another way for us to assess the viability of electric cars here. The first $20 million "test-bed" led by the Energy Market Authority (EMA) ended with pretty watery findings. Examples include:Electric vehicles are "technically feasible" in Singapore, because the average distance clocked in the trial was 46km a day. This is less than the national average of 50km for a conventional passenger car, and much lower than the manufacturers' declared range of 120-160km per charge. (The average distance clocked by car owners is a long known fact, and there is no reason to doubt an electric car owner would behave differently.)High purchase price was the top inhibiting factor cited by consumers. (There has already been clear evidence of this in other markets.)Range anxiety was the next major concern. (Another well-documented fact.)Electric cars are expensive compared to conventional cars primarily because of their high open market value. (Yet another known fact.)A cost-benefit analysis showed that the health-care savings arising from the clean mode of transport would not be sufficient to offset the high cost of electric cars. (This is probably the most interesting finding, but the EMA did not elaborate despite repeated requests.)Another $75 million in tax dollars have been set aside to put more than 1,200 green vehicles on the road. Sources say the electric car-sharing scheme would account for the bulk of the budget. But despite having been on the drawing board for over a year, the initiative is still stuck in neutral gear. Life! understands that the Land Transport Authority and Economic Development Board - which will be spearheading the plan - have not yet called for an RFI (request for information). As such, the scheme is unlikely to take off anytime soon. According to industry players, one of the stumbling blocks is the different charging cables used by various manufacturers from China, Europe and the United States. This makes setting up a public charging infrastructure that can be used by one and all a costly affair. Even if Singapore were to adopt the latest European convention, the new cable is different from those used by cars involved in the first test-bed. That might render an entire network of three-year-old charging stations obsolete. One view is that Singapore should forget about setting up a public charging infrastructure. As the first trial showed, the average driving distance for an electric car is less than half the range of a fully charged vehicle. The Government should just leave it to the private sector to decide how it wants to provide charging facilities to customers. And instead of another tax-funded trial to see if electric vehicles are viable, the carbon emissions-based vehicle scheme (CEVS) should be enhanced to give due recognition to cars with substantial environmental and health contributions. Today, CEVS rebates are granted too freely. Having said all that, car-sharing still has a role here. Not so much as a transport solution, but a social one. Car- sharing indirectly placates the person who is priced out of the car market. But the way we have been operating car-sharing thus far is inefficient. In Europe, car-sharing plans rely on smartphone apps that tell users at a glance the availability of cars in the vicinity. Users can then book an available car with a touch of the screen. There is no need for designated parking spaces and other logistical requirements. In Singapore, where carpark spaces are as precious as road space, reserving lots for car-sharing schemes is just not possible. -- PHOTO: BLOOMBERG by Christopher Tan how come never sexplain why car sharing will increase road use?

With car prices staying high, it is no surprise to find car-sharing getting more and more popular. With over 100 locations, around 300 cars and 9,000 members - up from about 4,800 in 2010, there is an increasing crunch for parking lots for shared cars. Car-Sharing Association of Singapore President Lai Meng was pleased to hear that the Government recently announced that it will make available more parking lots in HDB estates for shared cars. While that is good news, Mr. Lai stressed that it is still critical to provide shared cars near hubs like MRT stations as people who live nearby are less likely to own a vehicle since car-sharing locations near public transport hubs have the highest rate of use. Doing so will reduce increasing demand for car ownership in Singapore as it offers an alternative, said Mr. Tony Dufays, regional director of UITP, the International Association of Public Transport. He believes car-sharing allows people to have an occasional use of a private car when other sustainable transport modes can't serve their purpose. However, car sharing still has its fair share of challenges. One of them is unauthorised parking in shared car lots. "If the next user coming to get the car cannot find it at the usual place, it compromises efficiency," Mr. Lai said. A shared car is used an average of three to four times on a weekend and two to three times on weekdays. With shared car lots are typically located on the higher levels of HDB multi-storey carparks it can be quite a pain to locate the car. Another problem faced is a lack of awareness about what car sharing does. Many do not know car sharing is basically a membership service that allows people to share a fleet of different cars, with "pay-as-you drive" rates. Mr. Lai reckons it would help if there were signs alerting residents to shared cars at street level and designated parking lots at lower levels to improve visibility.