Man dies, 4 others hurt after Mercedes crashes through railing at Tampines junction
The accident involved four cars, a taxi and a motorcycle. PHOTO: SG ROAD VIGILANTE - SGRV/FACEBOOK
Syarafana Shafeeq
UPDATED
27 DEC 2021, 9:39 AM SGT
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SINGAPORE - A 59-year-old man died after an accident late on Thursday (Dec 23) night at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Avenue 10. Four others were injured.
Footage circulating online showed a red Mercedes crashing through a railing at a traffic light. The accident involved four cars, a taxi and a motorcycle.
Police said they were alerted to the accident at about 11.10pm. The 59-year-old male driver, who was in one of the vehicles hit by the Mercedes, was unconscious and taken to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Four other men, aged between 22 and 38, were conscious when taken to Changi General Hospital.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said its officers used hydraulic equipment to rescue a person who was trapped in the driver's seat of a car.
A 33-year-old male driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing death, said the police.
The Straits Times understands that the driver had been drinking.
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Police are investigating the accident.
Mr Noraschid Ghani, who has been living in Tampines Avenue 1 for the past 11 years, said: "This area is notorious for night racing."
The 47-year-old said that he wrote to the authorities regarding the issue of speeding cars after reading about the accident on Facebook.
There were 733 cases of speeding between January and September islandwide, a rise from 549 in the same period last year.
Speeding was flagged as the leading cause behind a rise in the number of accidents with injuries or deaths from June to September.
Drink driving was among other causes behind the rise.
PHOTO: SG ROAD VIGILANTE - SGRV/FACEBOOK
More than 1,000 people were caught for drink driving in the first nine months of this year.
The Anti-Drink Drive Campaign 2021 was launched on Dec 9 as a reminder to motorists not to drink and drive, especially during the festive period.
A driver who drives under the influence of alcohol - even when no accident is involved - can be fined up to $10,000, or sentenced to up to a year in jail, or both, and be disqualified from driving for two years for a first offence.
PHOTO: SG ROAD VIGILANTE - SGRV/FACEBOOK
For dangerous driving causing death, first-time offenders face up to eight years in jail, with a minimum mandatory sentence of two years, and could be disqualified from driving for at least 10 years.
Second-time offenders face a minimum mandatory jail term of four years, with up to 15 years' imprisonment.
Correction note: Police have clarified that the 33-year-old male driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing death and not arrested for suspected drink driving.
