Action to be taken against owners of 141 lorries who did not install speed limiters by Jan 1

SINGAPORE - Despite repeated police reminders, the owners of 141 lorries did not install speed limiters in the vehicles by Jan 1 as required by law.

This is almost six per cent of the 2,434 lorries that were subject to the deadline.

The Traffic Police (TP) will be taking enforcement action against the companies that own these lorries.

The road tax of non-compliant lorries will not be renewed, and their owners can be fined up to $1,000 and jailed for up to three months.

Even if they do install the devices now, they will still be penalised, said the police on Jan 9.

The penalties are doubled for repeat offenders.

There are plans to raise the maximum fines to $10,000 in 2026, added the police.

Consumers should also be wary, as those who use the services of such non-compliant lorries may not be able to make insurance claims because it is an offence for these vehicles to be driven.

First

announced in 2023

, the speed limiter regime requires all lorries with a maximum laden weight (MLW) of between 3,501kg and 12,000kg to be fitted with a speed limiter that caps the speed at 60kmh.

Goods vehicles with an MLW of over 12,000kg are already fitted with such devices.

All newly imported lorries with an MLW of over 3,500kg must be equipped with the device.

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.

Those registered before 2018 with an MLW of between 3,501kg and 5,000kg have up to July 1 to install the device, while lorries registered in or after 2018 have up to 2027 to install the device.

In November 2025, the authorities had warned that

strict enforcement would be taken

against those who do not comply.

Despite this, more than 400 of these lorries had yet to install the speed limiters by December 2025.

The police said that since early 2025, TP had sent SMSes, e-mails and letters and conducted face-to-face engagements to remind lorry owners to install speed limiters before the deadline.

Yet, 141 of the lorries have not done so. The companies that own these vehicles will be receiving notices to present their vehicles for inspection at authorised inspection centres.

They will fail the inspection for not having the speed limiters, and the owners will face enforcement action.

The road tax for non-compliant lorries cannot be renewed. Companies found operating such lorries will be flagged in audits and be unable to obtain or renew their bizSAFE certification.

While bizSAFE certification is not mandatory, it is a requirement to participate in government projects and tenders.

Aside from the deadline, Jan 1 also marked the start of a Remedial Order regime for lorries caught speeding.

Companies whose lorry drivers speed will be issued a Remedial Order by TP for committing unsafe acts at work.

The companies will then be required to install speed limiters across all their remaining lorries ahead of their statutory deadlines, with fines of up to $50,000 for non-compliance.

The number of people killed and injured in traffic accidents hit a

five-year-high in 2024

, with speeding contributing to one in three fatal crashes.

There was also a spike in speeding violations in the

first half of 2025

with 118,076 cases, up from 81,141 in the first half of 2024.