Humans Aren't Cargo

Straits Times, Aug 2, 2011 By Royston Sim Photo caption: All light lorries ferrying passengers in the back are required to have higher side rails and canopies since February, while a similar rule kicked in to cover heavy lorries yesterday. -- ST PHOTO: SAMUEL HE STRICTER rules to protect workers travelling in the back of lorries seem to be having an effect. Fifty were killed or injured while travelling this way during the first six months of the year, a drop from 90 in the same period last year, police figures showed. All light lorries ferrying passengers in the back are required to have higher side rails and canopies since February. Owners who do not comply can be fined up to $1,000 or jailed for up to three months. By June, 117 had been caught. Yesterday, a similar rule kicked in to cover heavy lorries. But it appears that a substantial number have yet to be retrofitted, as workshops that provide this service said they are still inundated with orders. Mr Nicholas Neo, sales manager f...

TODAY, Jul 26, 2011 SINGAPORE - While heavy lorries transporting workers on cargo decks will need to put in place fittings to enhance workers' safety by next month, the authorities are for now not requiring a doubling of the minimum deck space per seated worker on both light and heavy lorries. This follows feedback from employers, and a further review of this measure will be conducted, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in a statement yesterday. In the meantime, it would do a stock-take and assess the effectiveness of the measures already put in place in enhancing the safety and welfare of workers being transported on the cargo deck of lorries, the LTA added. As the measure is being reviewed, lorry owners are not required to recalculate the Maximum Passenger Capacity (MPC) nor change their vehicles' MPC label by next month. Meanwhile, heavy lorries transporting workers must be fitted with higher railings and canopies by next month - part of measures progressively rolled ou...

Straits Times, Jul 26, 2011 LORRY owners will not have to figure out how many passengers they can carry in the back of their vehicles by Aug 1. Under safety rules that would have taken effect from that date, they were supposed to allocate more seating space for workers at the back of their lorries. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is now reviewing its previous requirement that lorry owners double the minimum deck space for each seated worker to 8 sq ft. Lorry owners were then supposed to show the new Maximum Passenger Capacity (MPC) label on their vehicles. An LTA spokesman said some industry stakeholders have said that reducing maximum passenger capacity may lead to operational constraints. She said the authority will carefully assess the feedback from various industry groups while balancing safety needs of workers. Singapore Contractors Association (SCAL) president Ho Nyok Yong welcomed the news, and said 'it was a great relief'. He said some members were concerned because ...

Straits Times, Jul 14, 2011 By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent Photo caption: Yang Chao -- ST FILE PHOTO A CHINESE national was yesterday charged with causing the deaths of three passengers and injuring 13 others on the Pan-Island Expressway. Yang Chao (above, in shorts), 22, is said to have been driving a lorry there on June 22 last year when he allegedly caused the deaths of Chinese nationals Li Jia Jun, 40, Li Xian Long, 45, and Qiu Min Jun, 46, with a rash act on the slip road into Thomson Road. He is accused of failing to keep a proper lookout and travelling into the chevron markings while trying to change lanes to the left. In doing so, he allegedly crashed into the divider island, resulting in the lorry flipping onto its left and killing the three. He is also said to have caused grievous hurt to two passengers, and hurt to 11 others in the back of the lorry. The last charge accused him of going over the passenger load limit. Yang, represented by Mr Tan Cheng Kiong, will be back...

The following article was published in the Straits Times on 15 March 2011. Lorry drivers caught breaking safety rules By ROYSTON SIM Straits Times, Mar 15, 2011 Photo caption: All light lorries must have canopies and higher side railings installed if they are used to transport workers under a new rule which took effect on Feb 1. -- ST FILE PHOTO ALMOST two light lorries a day on average were found to be flouting rules ensuring passenger safety last month. Since Feb 1, all light lorries used to transport workers must be fitted with canopies and higher side railings. According to the Land Transport Authority (LTA), 47 lorries - without canopies - and another five - without higher side railings - were flagged down last month. Lorry owners caught for non-compliance can be charged in court and face a fine of up to $1,000 or a maximum jail term of three months for a first offence. Repeat offenders face a fine of up to $2,000 or jail of up to six months. The Government brought forward the dea...

The following article was published in the Straits Times on 2 March 2011. Lorry driver jailed for crash that killed four workers By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent Straits Times, Mar 2, 2011 BECAUSE of an act of rashness committed by the driver of a lorry, four people are dead. Yesterday, nearly two years after that crash on a pitch-dark road, driver Ramaiah Raja, 32, was jailed 21/2 years and banned from driving for 15 years. District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim described the case as one of the worst instances of a rash act, although she said she was aware that Ramaiah did not intend for it to happen. Two other charges - that of causing grievous hurt and causing hurt through rashness - were considered during the Indian national's sentencing. Ramaiah, then a marine trades worker ferrying nine of his colleagues from Hi-Tech NDT Inspection Services to Keppel Fels shipyard in his lorry, had blazed down Gul Road at 87kmh at about 4am on May 18, 2009. He was speeding despite there being ple...

The following article was published in TODAY on 2 March 2011. Driver's rash act killed four Man jailed 30 months, disqualified for 15 years by Shaffiq Alkhatib TODAY, Mar 02, 2011 SINGAPORE - A lorry driver was yesterday jailed 30 months for a traffic accident which killed four people and which was described by the judge as one of the worst involving a rash act. District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim also disqualified Ramaiah Raja, 32, from driving all classes of vehicles for 15 years. He was speeding in his lorry along Gul Road in Tuas at around 4am on May 18, 2009, when the accident took place. Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Leong Wing Tuck said the lorry was travelling at around 87kmh, when the speed limit was only 50kmh. Ramaiah, an Indian national, had tried to overtake a stationary prime mover carrying concrete piling equipment shortly before the crash, said DPP Leong. The prime mover driver had parked his vehicle at the left side of the road and was asleep in the cabin. Ramaiah, who...