Tuesday, May 08, 2012
AsiaOne
Former SBS driver jailed a week over fatal crash
SINGAPORE - An SBS bus driver was Monday sentenced to a week in jail and disqualified from driving for a year for her role in an accident which left a 19-year-old motorcyclist dead.
On Nov 9 last year, 36-year-old Chen Hongyan was driving bus service 209 when she hit Temasek Polytechnic student Toh Jia Wei.
Turning right at the junction of Tampines Avenue 8 and Tampines Street 84, she did not see Mr Toh riding his motorcycle in the opposite direction.
Chen, who had been an SBS Transit bus driver for just a month, cut into his path and he crashed into the bus. Mr Toh died six hours later at Changi General Hospital.
The Straits Times reported that video footage from a camera on board the bus confirmed that the teenager had the right of way and that Chen had a clear view of the rider and motorcycle.
The prosecution pushed for a jail term of two weeks while Chen, who did not have a lawyer, pleaded for a fine.
She said she had a debt of $6,000 which she had not yet cleared.
The Chinese national added that she is a single parent and is supporting a daughter and her aged mother in China. Asking for forgiveness, she said that not a day passes without her regretting what had happened.
Noting that Mr Toh was not negligent, District Judge Low Wee Ping ruled that a fine would not be appropriate.
She could have been jailed for up to two years, or fined up to $10,000, or sentenced to both.
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