The Straits Times reported that 71 offences were recorded in the northern part of Singapore during a joint enforcement exercise carried out to crack down vehicle-related issues like excessive smoke and noise emissions, illegal modifications, and speeding. 

The exercise, which lasted three and a half hours, began at 3:00pm and was conducted by the National Environment Agency (NEA), the Land Transport Authority (LTA), and the Traffic Police.

Some 40 officers from the three agencies operated from a heavy vehicle carpark at Marsiling Crescent, where stations to test for smoke emissions and noise levels had been set up. Outriders from the agencies covered a 10km radius around the carpark to identify vehicles with problems and escorted them back to the carpark for checks.

Visible smoke emission reaped the highest number of offences with 46 diesel vehicles caught and fined up to $500 for smoke levels exceeding 50 Hartridge smoke units (HSU). The Traffic Police fined speeders on the spot, while other vehicles were checked for smoke emission levels and illegal modifications. The joint exercise comes after an increase in the number of pollutive and noisy vehicles caught on roads here this year.

According to the NEA, there were 5,809 cases against vehicles with high emissions for the first nine months of the year. In comparison, the figure was 6,381 last year and 4,794 in 2011. Tighter rules to limit diesel emissions will be imposed from next year as an initiative of NEA's efforts to improve air quality standards in Singapore. All diesel vehicles must achieve a smoke opacity test result of 40 HSU or lower from 2014.