SINGAPORE: The death of a motorcyclist after a wheel that dislodged from a prime mover hit him on Kranji Expressway (KJE) in 2017 has been ruled a "traffic misadventure".
On Friday (May 10), at an inquiry into the death of the victim, local rugby veteran Slemat Rakisan, State Coroner Kamala Ponnampalam delivered her findings that the prime mover was "poorly maintained".
AdvertisementQuoting experts who inspected the vehicle, she added that the wheel nuts which hold wheels in place had been tightened improperly, and that the vehicle was "not in a road-worthy condition".
On Mar 16, 2017, two wheels from the rear of the prime mover became dislodged and rolled away as the vehicle was travelling downslope on the KJE.
It was heading towards the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE), in the opposite direction Mr Slemat was travelling in.
One of the wheels then bounced off the centre divider and hit Mr Slemat, who was on the extreme right lane of a four-lane road.
AdvertisementAdvertisementMr Slemat was flung off his bike and was later pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The other wheel ended up in a grass patch.
The driver of the prime mover had managed to steer the vehicle to safety after the wheels came off, the court heard.
PRIME MOVER'S TYRES CHANGED IN JAN 2017
The coroner said the prime mover's tyres were changed in January, two months before the incident, because they were bald.
She added that the driver of the prime mover had four years' experience and had been driving that particular vehicle for a year.
He had checked the vehicle the day of the incident before setting off from Senoko and had found nothing wrong.
However, the court heard that before its wheels rolled away, the prime mover was shaking as it went upslope.
The coroner ruled the incident as an "unfortunate traffic misadventure".
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