A driver allegedly responsible for a hit-and-run accident that claimed the life of a cyclist along the Nicoll Highway in December was charged in court on Wednesday ( Nov 6 ).
Tan Yong Ren, 34, was charged with seven counts, including obstructing justice and unsafe travelling that left Tan Yong Ren dead.
A sheriff’s judge had heard on Sep 19 , that Tan , was driving against prospects and believed to be drunken when his vehicle collided with , 45-year-old rider Basra Rajan Singh.
According to the charge sheets, Tan was formerly found guilty in 2012 for causing severe harm by an act that endangers people’s lives or their own safety, and for causing death by a careless or reckless deed. The situation was not disclosed in court records.
In its reports relieve on Thursday, authorities said they were , alerted to the incident at 5.10am on Dec 19, 2023.
The rider was taken unconscious to the clinic, where he eventually died from his wounds.
” The vehicle did not stop to provide support to the wounded rider, but allegedly fled the scene after the accident”, authorities said. He also failed to notify the police of the incident within 24 hours.
The identity of the driver was established through on-the-ground inquiries, a witness, and videotapes taken by police and the Land Transport Authority ( LTA ). He was also detained the same day.
Tan was detained on Wednesday for the offenses listed below:
- Harmful driving as a repeat criminal
- Harmful driving , causing suicide as a repeat offender
- Failing to stop after an injury
- Notifying an injury within 24 hrs
- Moving the car without a policeman officer’s power
- Providing no aid to the injured
- Obstructing course of justice.
In the first days of December 19th, the rider, who was from the United Kingdom, was cycling along Nicoll Highway heading the way of Guillemard Road.
A sheriff’s jury heard two months ago that a car was seen traveling against the flow of traffic along Nicoll Highway, toward Rochor, according to images from a Land Transport Authority cameras.
Mr. Singh was seen riding, but in vain, attempting to avoid colliding with the vehicle. Mr. Singh was flung upwards in the head-on motion before crashing into the street.
According to the investigating agent, Tan said he had “dozed off immediately” before the incident.
He could be jailed for between four and fifteen years for unsafe driving that led to his death as a repeat offender.
If convicted of unsafe driving as a repeat offender, he could face a fine of up to S$ 10, 000, a prison term of up to two years, or both. The vehicles involved may be answerable for confiscation.
Additionally, both of the infractions result in a suspension of all class of vehicle driving.
For the crimes of failing to stop after an incident, failing to report an incident within 24 hours, and moving the car without a police officer’s power, each carries a fine of up to S$ 1, 000, a prison expression of up to three months, or both.