SINGAPORE: A taxi driver who had dozed off while waiting in the queue at a cab stand woke up to see that the taxis in front of him had moved off.
He stepped on his accelerator but could not control his vehicle properly, surging forward into three motorcycles and a man standing in between two of them.
The victim was flung upwards before falling to the ground, suffering injuries that later led to multi-organ failure and his death.
Tan Yu Seng, 70, was sentenced to four weeks’ jail and banned from driving for eight years on Tuesday (Nov 14) over the incident.
He pleaded guilty to one count of driving without due care and attention, resulting in a collision that caused the death of the 51-year-old man.
Tan’s lawyer said his client was a taxi driver for 30 years.
On Oct 4, 2021, Tan drove to the taxi stand at Paya Lebar Square. There were two taxis in front of him at the stand.
Tan dozed off. He was later awoken by a thumping sound on his vehicle and saw that the cabs in front of him had moved off.
He stepped on his accelerator to move forward and fill up the empty taxi bay. There were three motorcycles parked nearby, and the victim was in between two of them.
Tan failed to control his taxi properly and swerved forward, colliding with the three motorcycles. His taxi stopped only after mounting the kerb.
As a result of the collision, the victim was flung upwards and fell to the ground.
He was taken to hospital with multiple injuries including various fractures. He underwent multiple rounds of surgery but developed complications, including pneumonia. He also had liver cirrhosis and required blood transfusion.
He died on Oct 19, 2021 of multi-organ failure following multiple injuries consistent with those sustained in a motor vehicle collision, an autopsy found.
The prosecution sought one to three months’ jail and a driving ban of eight years.
UNUSUAL ACCIDENT: DEFENCE
The man’s lawyer, Mr Yek Nai Hui, said this was a “rather unusual” accident that did not take place along the road.
He pointed to the underlying liver cirrhosis that the victim had, and said that fractures sustained would not lead to death in the ordinary course of events.
He said Tan has since given up being a taxi driver. He has multiple health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, and is a skin cancer patient, said Mr Yek.
He asked for a low fine, or the minimum jail sentence if jail was called for.
The prosecution said he had already taken the “unusual” facts of the case into account and asked for a sentence that was lower than usual.
For driving without due care and attention, Tan could have been jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
The stipulated driving ban for such an offence is eight years, unless the court finds special reasons to order otherwise.