Singapore on an Italian Licence — No IDP, but Switch to the Left

Singapore is a calm, orderly drive for an Italian visitor after the cut-and-thrust of home traffic — wide lanes, English signage and rules that are firmly enforced. The paperwork is light; the one real adjustment is which side of the road you are on.

Carry an IDP — and you switch sides

Your Italian licence is accepted for a tourist visit, but because it is not in English, Singapore expects an International Driving Permit (or official translation) carried alongside it — arrange one before you fly. The change that does matter is direction: Italy keeps right, Singapore keeps left. That reversal is the work, and it bites in the first hour — drifting wide after a turn, misjudging a lane, or glancing the wrong way at a junction. The indicator and wiper stalks are often swapped too. Ease out of the rental lot slowly and the instinct flips within a day. The Driving Permit Checker confirms your documents, and the Singapore driving guide covers the junction conventions.

ERP tolls and demerit points

Two local systems surprise European visitors. Electronic Road Pricing gantries deduct a toll automatically when you drive through busy zones at peak times — no booths, so the rental simply needs a working in-vehicle unit and a topped-up card. And a speeding ticket carries points as well as money: about SGD 150 (roughly EUR 100) plus 4 demerit points for a modest overspeed, with cameras throughout. Limits are low — 50 km/h in town, up to 90 km/h on expressways — so it is easy to drift over. Estimate a penalty with the Speeding Fine Calculator.

On alcohol, Singapore’s 0.08 is technically looser than Italy’s 0.05, but penalties are severe and testing common, so treat it as none before driving. Fuel is expensive at around EUR 1.98/litre, and the emergency number is 999 (ambulance and fire on 995). Car ownership here is deliberately costly, which is why visitors rent.