The excuse came just as fast as he was going. A 40-year-old container truck driver, who was stopped for speeding, claimed that he had accelerated merely to overtake another vehicle.
He said worriedly: 'It was not my intention to speed. I was just trying to overtake the cement truck in front.'
But the speed gun reading showed that he was going at 67kmh while his vehicle's speed limit was only 50kmh.
Speed limits for heavy vehicles vary between 40kmh and 60kmh.
The number of errant heavy vehicle drivers is on the rise.
The Traffic Police (TP) is looking at increasing the penalties on offences committed by such drivers.
The New Paper followed a TP operation targeted at heavy-vehicle drivers in Tuas last Wednesday.
More excuses were heard when some drivers were stopped for not displaying the label which showed that their vehicle's speed limiters had passed a safety inspection.
Speed limiters prevent the vehicles from travelling beyond its speed limit.
One driver said that the label used to be on the windscreen, which had to be replaced after an accident recently.
Another said he did not know where to display the label and quickly retrieved it from the sun visor to show the officers.
Then, there were some who pleaded ignorance.
A driver, who gave his name only as Mr Teo, 46, said: 'My company did not give me the label. Even when I took the vehicle for servicing, no one told me I needed to display one.'
But the various excuses cut no ice with the officers, and the drivers were issued with summonses or warnings.
Police spokesman Ng Siew Hua said the four-hour operation was the sixth in a series of 'dedicated, high-visibility road blocks' held this year to 'clamp down on errant heavy vehicle drivers'.
She said: 'The locations are chosen based on intelligence from the ground and feedback from the public.'
In the Tuas operation, roving Traffic Police 'shooters' who carried laser speed guns kept a lookout for speeding heavy vehicles, such as trailers, tipper trucks and prime movers.
Once an excessive speed reading was recorded, the vehicle's information was radioed ahead.
Uniformed TP officers stationed further along the road would then stop the offending vehicle and escort it to the road block along Tuas South Avenue 1.
There, technicians from the Jurong Inspection Centre checked to see if its speed limiter had been tampered with.
Land Transport Authority officers were also there to check for offences such as illegal modifications and overloading.
Mr Ng Boon Hong, 50, the Singapore Transport Association chairman, said heavy vehicles carry heavy loads and are harder to manoeuvre because of their size and weight. If they are going at a high speed, it could take them longer to make a complete stop compared to other vehicles - hence the need for speed limiters.
Mr Ng said: 'Even if you tamper with your speed limiter and travel at 80kmh instead of 60kmh, you'll only get to your destination 20 minutes earlier.
'Why do you want to risk your life?'
The current penalty for tampering with a speed limiter for first-time offenders is a fine of up to $1,000 or three-months' jail. The penalty is doubled for subsequent offences.
As for beating red lights, heavy vehicle drivers already face a stiffer fine of $230 - compared to $200 for other drivers.
Mr Ng noted: 'We can have lots of enforcement, but at the end of the day, the driver himself has to be skilful, patient and careful.'
To this end, TP has held road safety talks for about 4,500 drivers since September 2004. Publicity materials, such as posters and car decals, have been given out as part of the Heavy Vehicle Driver Safety Programme since June this year.
