Stricter safety rules for lorries from next month
The following article was published in the Straits Times on 18 Jan 2011.
Stricter safety rules for lorries from next month
Higher fines, lower maximum passenger capacity among changes
By Royston Sim & Melissa Kok
Straits Times, Jan 18, 2011
LORRY drivers and company bosses who flout safety rules on transporting workers will face stiffer penalties.
From Feb 1, fines will be increased from $200 to $500 for certain offences.
They include carrying workers in the back while there are empty seats in the lorry cabin, and allowing workers to sit so that they are higher than 1.1m measured from the floor of the lorry.
First-time offenders will get demerit points for most offences.
Errant drivers who carry too many passengers or ferry them in a dangerous manner will also get demerit points.
In July last year, the Government brought forward the deadline for enhanced safety standards from September next year to next month.
The move followed two accidents in June which killed three workers and injured 54 others.
The Government announced then that all light lorries used to transport workers must be fitted with canopies and higher side railings by Feb 1. Heavy lorries have until Aug 1 to do so.
From Aug 1, too, the minimum deck space requirement per seated worker will be doubled to eight square feet for both light and heavy lorries.
Lorry owners must also recalculate the Maximum Passenger Capacity (MPC) and affix the correct MPC label on their vehicles by Aug 1.
Mr Colin Lim, the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) group director for vehicle and licensing, said yesterday that while penalties have been enhanced and enforcement stepped up, employers, vehicle owners and drivers must play their part in ensuring the safety of workers.
The LTA said that about 27 per cent of the 60,000 lorries here are currently fitted with canopies.
From January to November last year, 1,629 lorries were booked for having empty seats in the lorry cabin while carrying workers in the back.
Another 1,352 were caught for not displaying a label to show how many workers they were allowed to carry.
Another 184 displayed a label showing more capacity than the space allowed, and 265 were booked for allowing workers to sit higher than 1.1m off the cargo deck.
The 2,000-member Singapore Contractors Association said some members were concerned about the reduced maximum passenger capacity of lorries because they may be forced to make more trips or buy more vehicles.
Landscaping contractor Patrick Tan said he would probably upgrade his three 10-footer lorries to 14-footers so he can ferry more workers. He usually has a team of 10 workers on a job at any one time.
But he said that with certificate of entitlement prices so high, it would be very costly to buy another vehicle. He added that he might have to pass on the extra cost to consumers.
Construction firms The Straits Times spoke to said they had started to retrofit existing lorries or replace old vehicles with new ones last year.
Wee Guan Construction, which has more than 50 lorries, vans and pick-up trucks, began fitting its vehicles with higher side rails and canopies shortly after the February deadline was announced last July.
But a spokesman said such safety measures are not enough; the drivers must also practise responsible driving, he said.
The company has pasted stickers at the back of its lorries, reading: 'Report unsafe driving... Make our roads and expressways safer for everyone.'
A mobile phone number is included on the sticker so that members of the public can call to complain if they feel the driver is being reckless.
The spokesman said the move is designed to 'inculcate safe driving habits... and ensure roads are safe for everyone'.
Stricter safety rules for lorries from next month
Higher fines, lower maximum passenger capacity among changes
By Royston Sim & Melissa Kok
Straits Times, Jan 18, 2011
LORRY drivers and company bosses who flout safety rules on transporting workers will face stiffer penalties.
From Feb 1, fines will be increased from $200 to $500 for certain offences.
They include carrying workers in the back while there are empty seats in the lorry cabin, and allowing workers to sit so that they are higher than 1.1m measured from the floor of the lorry.
First-time offenders will get demerit points for most offences.
Errant drivers who carry too many passengers or ferry them in a dangerous manner will also get demerit points.
In July last year, the Government brought forward the deadline for enhanced safety standards from September next year to next month.
The move followed two accidents in June which killed three workers and injured 54 others.
The Government announced then that all light lorries used to transport workers must be fitted with canopies and higher side railings by Feb 1. Heavy lorries have until Aug 1 to do so.
From Aug 1, too, the minimum deck space requirement per seated worker will be doubled to eight square feet for both light and heavy lorries.
Lorry owners must also recalculate the Maximum Passenger Capacity (MPC) and affix the correct MPC label on their vehicles by Aug 1.
Mr Colin Lim, the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) group director for vehicle and licensing, said yesterday that while penalties have been enhanced and enforcement stepped up, employers, vehicle owners and drivers must play their part in ensuring the safety of workers.
The LTA said that about 27 per cent of the 60,000 lorries here are currently fitted with canopies.
From January to November last year, 1,629 lorries were booked for having empty seats in the lorry cabin while carrying workers in the back.
Another 1,352 were caught for not displaying a label to show how many workers they were allowed to carry.
Another 184 displayed a label showing more capacity than the space allowed, and 265 were booked for allowing workers to sit higher than 1.1m off the cargo deck.
The 2,000-member Singapore Contractors Association said some members were concerned about the reduced maximum passenger capacity of lorries because they may be forced to make more trips or buy more vehicles.
Landscaping contractor Patrick Tan said he would probably upgrade his three 10-footer lorries to 14-footers so he can ferry more workers. He usually has a team of 10 workers on a job at any one time.
But he said that with certificate of entitlement prices so high, it would be very costly to buy another vehicle. He added that he might have to pass on the extra cost to consumers.
Construction firms The Straits Times spoke to said they had started to retrofit existing lorries or replace old vehicles with new ones last year.
Wee Guan Construction, which has more than 50 lorries, vans and pick-up trucks, began fitting its vehicles with higher side rails and canopies shortly after the February deadline was announced last July.
But a spokesman said such safety measures are not enough; the drivers must also practise responsible driving, he said.
The company has pasted stickers at the back of its lorries, reading: 'Report unsafe driving... Make our roads and expressways safer for everyone.'
A mobile phone number is included on the sticker so that members of the public can call to complain if they feel the driver is being reckless.
The spokesman said the move is designed to 'inculcate safe driving habits... and ensure roads are safe for everyone'.
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