SINGAPORE: A taxi driver behind the wheel in an accident that killed a passenger and injured three others on the way to the National University of Singapore (NUS) was sentenced to eightweeks' jail on Friday (Aug 1).
Yap Kok Hua, 55, was also banned from driving for five years.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHe had pleaded guilty to one charge of a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide and a second of causing grievous hurt to the surviving three passengers.
District Judge Victor Yeo rejected the defence's point that the other driver had been speeding, saying the conduct of the other driver was not a mitigating factor in the case.
"Quite clearly the duty in this case must be on Yap when making the right turn at the junction to not only give way to oncoming vehicles who had the right of way but that he should also not attempt to make the right turn when it is clearly unsafe to do so," said the judge.
He said he did not think Yap's culpability could be reduced as he had, by his own negligent conduct, caused the crash that took the life of one passenger and injured three others through no fault of theirs.
AdvertisementAdvertisement"Furthermore, I could not ignore the accused’s driving antecedents, in particular his failure to conform to red-light signals on three previous occasions, the last being on Jul 1, 2016 and speeding on two previous occasions," continued the judge.
"Again, with due respect to his learned counsel, I cannot agree that these driving antecedents have no relevance to this present case.
"These are not minor traffic transgressions and the accused’s bad driving record is relevant to this course in that it reflected his attitude towards road safety as well as his unwillingness to comply with traffic laws."
The accident on the night of Apr 19, 2018 occurred at the junction of Commonwealth Avenue West and Clementi Road.
Yap took a discretionary right turn when the green right-turn arrow was unlit, and collided with an oncoming car going straight.
The driver of the other vehicle, 21-year-old Ng Li Ning, was going at a speed between 92kmh and 97kmh, and could not avoid Yap.
The accident threw NUS undergrad Kathy Ong, 19, partially out of the window, and she died in hospital from multiple injuries.
The other three passengers suffered injuries ranging from multiple lacerations, a spine fracture and traumatic brain injury.
The prosecution had called for at least eight weeks' jail, calling the case “a serious one with awful consequences”.
Yap's defence lawyers, Josephus Tan and Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation, had urged the court for six weeks' jail at most, saying Yap had pleaded guilty and that the other driver had been speeding.
The case for the other driver Ng is in the pre-trial conference stage.
He was charged in February with dangerous driving and is accused of going at a speed of 92kmh - more than the 70kmh speed limit - colliding with Yap's cab.
The judge noted a traffic police road safety advisory cited by the prosecution stating that 36 fatal accidents were recorded at signalised right-turn junctions between Jan 1, 2018 and Apr 25, 2018. A total of 38 people died from these accidents, four more than the same period the previous year.
"Accidents in traffic junctions remain a grave concern and the traffic police highlighted that it is important for motorists to exercise extra caution and to always slow down when approaching traffic junctions," said the judge.
"At signalised right-turn junctions, motorists must wait until it is safe to cross before making the right turn."
For committing a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, Yap could have been jailed for up to two years and fined.
He could have been jailed for up to two years and fined S$5,000 for causing grievous hurt by a negligent act.
The family declined comment after the hearing, saying they “just need some time”.
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