No CNG Label , $1000 fine for Singapore Car

The drivers got creative when they were caught without the green CNG sticker on their converted car.

One driver removed the stickers ,saving it doe not fit in with the paint.

Another claims someone had taken away his green stickers , while another claim it fell off after washing.

Drivers of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles are required to display the palm-size label on the front and rear bumpers, to make awareness and rescue easier. In an accidents, the Civil Defense will be prepared for the fuel leakages of such vehicles.

The Authority says that the purpose of the label is to alert Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers. Proper procedures need to be taken to handle the CNG cyclinders, otherwise it might be dangerous if it is broken. It has been reported in India that in an event of a collisions, it might catch fire.

It includes turning off the manual shut-off valve at the head of the CNG cylinder, located in the boot. It has been reported that the CNG tanks can catch fire in a collisions, unless special precautions are used. The occupant could be trapped inside the vehicles.
The Authorities reported that there are currently 3,200 CNG vehicles in Singapore. and so far none had been caught for not displaying the labels.

$1,000 fine

Since 20 Oct, offenders can be fined $1,000 or jailed three months under the Road Traffic (Motor Vehicles, Registration & Licensing) Rules.

Those with labels which are defaced, torn or do not meet the dimensional and colour scheme requirements face the same penalty.

Repeat offenders can be fined $2,000 or jailed six months.

Still, many were unaware of the importance of displaying the labels and the penalties if they were caught for not doing so.

During a one-hour period at the Smart Energy CNG refuelling station at Mandai Link last Friday, The New Paper team spotted seven out of 25 vehicles which did not have the labels.

Another three vehicles displayed the label only on the front bumper, and one of them was driven by cabby Paul Tan.

The 46-year-old said: 'I know we're supposed to place the label on the front and back of the car, but the label on the back bumper of my car fell out during a car wash.'

The Smart limousine cab driver said he gets his car washed every day.

Mr Tan, who has been driving the CNG vehicle for two months, said: 'I'll definitely have to get a new one from the office soon.'

Another Smart limousine cabby, Mr Reik Lien, 56, said he was aware of the requirement. But he claimed his labels were stolen, 'probably by other CNG car drivers'.

Mr Lien has been driving a taxi for three years.

So why didn't he get new ones?

'I haven't had time to collect them from the office yet. It would be better if we could just pick up the labels from here,' he said, pointing to the counter inside the office at the refuelling station.

CNG labels are provided by the original car agents or workshops that convert cars to run on CNG. They also provide replacement labels to customers when asked.

Two workshops The New Paper spoke to provide the labels for free, while one workshop charges $8 for a pair.

Other drivers, such as Mr Maurice Lim, 41, said they did not know they were required by law to display the labels.

Mr Lim, a sole proprietor, said: 'I bought my car about four months ago and I wasn't given any labels. The workshop employees didn't tell me it was necessary.

'I even sent my car for an inspection and nobody said anything. Anyway, just take a look around. There are always about five out of 10 cars that don't display the label.

'That's why I didn't think it was required.'

Mr Vincent Lim, 33, was equally clueless about the rule.

The designer said: 'I saw that all the luxury cars, the Camrys and the Mercedes-Benz cars, didn't have any labels, so I thought it wasn't necessary.

'I just did the same thing. I removed the labels from my car.'

Mr William Chua, Smart Energy's general manager, observed that many of the vehicles that do not display the labels tend to be Mercedes-Benz cars.

'The drivers think that it's okay not to display the label because the cars have the letters 'NGT' on their boot.'

The letters stand for 'natural gas technology', which means the cars operate on CNG.

Indeed, that turned out to be the case with the owners of the Mercedes-Benz E200 NGT cars The New Paper interviewed.

When asked why he had a label displayed only on the front of his car and not the back, contractor Danny Tay, who is in his 40s, pointed at the silver letters 'NGT' on the boot of his car.

He said: 'Actually, there's no need to put the CNG label because people will know that my car is a CNG car when they see the 'NGT' here.

'Anyway, the CNG labels are quite ugly. They should have a slightly more attractive design.'

Mr Tay's Mercedes-Benz E200 NGT is the only CNG car that comes direct from the factory. Other CNG cars have petrol engines and were retrofitted to operate on CNG as well.

Echoing Mr Tay's view was another Mercedes-Benz E200 NGT owner, Mr Edwin Ng, 50, who works as a limousine driver.

Mr Ng, who paid close to $170,000 for his car, said: 'Isn't 'NGT' enough? What's the point of putting 'NGT' then?'