Road death: Driver took advantage of faulty speed limiter
IT WAS precisely the sort of accident a speed limiter could have prevented, but the one in Lim Hong Hock's prime mover was faulty - and he took advantage of it.
Lim was jailed for eight months and banned from driving for eight years last week for failing to keep a proper lookout while speeding and causing the death of Mr Lo Hon Man, 47, and injuring 39-year-old taxi driver Tan Swee Boon.
Lim was also fined the maximum $1,000 for driving with the faulty speed limiter. He could have been jailed for up to three months instead.
Speed limiters prevent vehicles from travelling beyond their speed limit and are required by law to be installed on buses with a maximum laden weight of more than 10 tonnes, and more than 12 tonnes for other vehicles.
Mr Lo's wife, Madam Law Kin Ying, 48, was driving on the evening of Jan 3 when her car broke down along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE).
She pulled over at the narrow road shoulder but the right side of the car protruded onto the road.
She switched on the hazard lights and her 20-year-old son Lo Kit Ho, who was with her, telephoned Mr Lo. When thick smoke started coming out of the bonnet, mother and son moved to a safe distance.
Ten minutes later, Mr Lo arrived in a taxi. He was walking towards the front of the car when Lim's prime mover ploughed into the back of the car. The car surged forward, hitting Mr Lo and flinging him towards a nearby tree. The prime mover then slammed into the taxi. Mr Lo died the next day of multiple injuries.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Natalie Morris told the court that there were no brake or skid marks, suggesting that Lim did not try to stop his vehicle.
He was also travelling at 70kmh - 10kmh over the speed limit for a prime mover, which would not be the case if the speed limiter was working.
Last year, 178 drivers of heavy vehicles were caught speeding - up from 164 in 2006. The number of summonses climbed from 1,109 to 1,160.
After public complaints about speeding heavy vehicles early this year, police mounted operations.
In the first half of the year, about 1,400 summonses were issued to drivers of heavy vehicles for violations, such as speeding, tampering with speed limiters and road hogging.
Lorry driver S. Maniam, 34, said drivers of heavy vehicles are generally paid according to the number of trips made, so some of them disable the speed limiter in order to go faster.
Explaining the dangers of heavy vehicles speeding, National Safety Council of Singapore president Tan Jin Tong said: "Compared to an ordinary car, it's harder for a heavy vehicle to brake, as there will be greater momentum pushing it forward. That's why the speed limit is needed - to ensure that the driver is able to brake in time."
This article was first published in The Straits Times on Dec 5, 2008.
