14 motorists charged over speeding involving heavy vehicles; 6 were repeat offenders

Krishnamoorthy Kalidass, 37, was allegedly driving a trailer at 66kmh, above the speed limit of 50kmh. He was convicted of speeding in 2020 and 2021.

Nor Azhar bin Masrip, 55, was allegedly driving a trailer at 66kmh. He was convicted of speeding in 2012 and 1998.

The other men charged on Feb 25 are: Wang Qiang, 38; Somu Karuppiya, 50; Chinnasamy Sivakumar, 32; Qiao Zhenyang, 37; Teo Gee Yit, 52; Chong Siaw Kiong, 49; Ramasamy Karthikeyan, 37; and Monir Md Moniruzzaman, 32.

Speeding remains one of the main causes of traffic accidents, the police said in a statement on Feb 23.

Heavy vehicles with a maximum laden weight (MLW) exceeding 12,000kg must be fitted with working speed limiters under current laws.

A speed limiter, which costs around $900, is a device that 

.

Vehicles with an MLW of between 3,501kg and 12,000kg are required to have the speed limiters installed by July 2027. 

Lorries registered before 2018 with an MLW of between 3,501kg and 5,000kg must have speed limiters installed by July 1. Their owners are strongly encouraged to do so before the deadline.

Heavy vehicles found exceeding their regulated speed limits will be required to undergo inspection to verify that their speed limiters are functioning properly.

Those who fail to produce their vehicles for inspection can be fined up to $1,000, jailed for up to three months, or both.

In a press release on Jan 9, the Traffic Police (TP) said that the owners of 141 lorries did not install speed limiters by Jan 1 as required by the law – this is

that were subject to the deadline.

The Jan 1 deadline to install the limiters was for lorries registered before 2018 and with an MLW of between 5,001kg and 12,000kg.

For speeding, an offender can be fined up to $1,000, jailed for up to three months’, or both.

Repeat offenders can be fined up to $2,000, be jailed for up to six months, or both.

Offenders may also face disqualification from driving all classes of vehicles.

On Jan 12, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that lorry owners who fail to install speed limiters will face stiffer penalties under proposed changes to the law.

Under these changes, the maximum fine for such offences will be $10,000 for a first offence and $20,000 for a second, 10 times the current penalties.

MHA said the proposed changes are more commensurate with the road safety risks posed by such vehicles, and bring penalties for speed limiter offences in line with those for offences related to motor vehicle modification.