SINGAPORE: A minibus driver was jailed for six months on Monday ( Dec 23 ) for careless driving that caused the death of a 63-year-old pedestrian in Jurong.
Tan Choon Sia, 64, was also given an eight-year driving ban after his discharge.
He admitted guilt on one count of causing dying by driving while leaving no other road users in a sensible way.
The prosecutor was informed that Tan had been driving his bus for about a century at the time of the incident after working as a vehicle for about 36 decades.
At about 9.50am on Aug 12, 2023, he was driving his bus out of an open-air vehicle area same Block 473, Jurong West Street 41.
He traveled down the support street to the car park and made the right turn onto Jurong West Street 41 at the unsigned T-junction near the exit for the car park.
When Tan reached the bridge, he made the right move without stopping to look for walkers.
At this time, the sufferer, Ms Mumtaj Bee Shahul Hameed, was crossing the bridge from the vehicle garden area to the reverse side.
When Tan turned ideal, Ms. Mumtaj was in the way of the bus, but Tan could not see her.
When he saw her and braked, she was in front of him without enough braking range. The bus struck her viciously and knocked her to the surface.
Minutes later, an emergency arrived and Ms. Mumtaj received emergency care. She was tired and could not speak.
She was taken to the hospital where she was found to have bone fractures and bleeding in the head.
She had operation, but her state got worse, and she died the following evening from head injuries at 6pm.
Tan’s deputy public attorney, Tung Shou Pin, requested an eight-year driving restrictions and five to seven months in jail.
He said that while Tan did not display risky behaviour, quite as speeding or swerving, the vehicle was “extremely thoughtless”.
Tan “utterly failed” to watch out for pedestrians as they turned, despite the fact that Ms. Mumtaj was moving quietly and could be seen on the run cameras while he was still on the service road in the car park.
Any car who paid the least bit of attention to the road back of them would have been able to come to a stop, according to Mr. Tung.
Ms. Mumtaj’s negligence or trespassing in any way contributed to the injury. The attorney claimed that” she was completely entitled to cross the road where she did.”
The crash site was located about 100 meters ahead, making it easy for pedestrians to cross. At a motorist cross, just if there are pedestrians within 50 meters of the road.
Although he noted that these crimes were dated, Tan added that he was fined for violating crimson light indicators in 2011.
Mr. Tang Gee Ni, Tan’s defense attorney, claimed that since 1980, his customer has driven for a life.
Tan’s history was “relatively clean” for someone who travels about daily, and the lawyer claimed this was his first accident.
However, the prosecutor noted that these were natural factors at best, and no reasons to brighten Tan’s phrase.
The penalty for careless driving that causes death is a jail term of up to three years, a fine of up to S$ 10, 000 ( US$ 7, 300 ) or both.
Eight years after launch, the offender must also be barred from holding any of the following lessons of driving licenses.