Tipsy passenger pushed taxi driver, who fell and died

[ronaldinho]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1034695/1/.html

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Coroner rules death a misadventure
By Shaffiq Alkhatib, TODAY | Posted: 02 February 2010 0858 hrs


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SINGAPORE: A taxi driver died after he fell to the ground when a passenger pushed him, but his death was ruled a misadventure on Monday.

Mr Chew Peng Choon, 62, suffered serious head injuries and died on 29 September 2008 - two days after former financial controller Arun Rajan pushed him.

The 30-year-old Indian national was charged with committing a negligent act not amounting to homicide, but he was acquitted last November after a district judge found no evidence against him.

The Coroner's Court heard Monday that Mr Rajan had downed about 15 cans of beer with a friend and was tipsy when he boarded Mr Chew's taxi along Yishun Ring Road at around 1.30am on 27 September 2008.

He vomited inside the taxi while it was travelling towards his destination in Tampines.

This prompted Mr Chew, who was a relief driver with Transcab, to ask him for an additional S$50 for having to clean up the mess. When Mr Rajan refused, an argument ensued.

As Mr Rajan did not have enough cash on him to pay the fare, Mr Chew drove to an Esso petrol kiosk along Tampines Avenue 9 for him to make a withdrawal from an ATM machine inside a Cheers convenience store there.

Mr Rajan withdrew the money but, instead of paying the requested amount, he handed over S$30 and this annoyed the older man.

He started to hurl vulgarities at Mr Rajan, who was trying to move away. Witnesses saw the cabby throwing punches at Mr Rajan, who managed to block the blows.

While Mr Rajan was walking away, Mr Chew hurried back to his taxi to pick up an object from the driver's seat.

An eyewitness identified the object as a screwdriver. Mr Chew then held the item in his right hand and attacked Mr Rajan.

It was then that Mr Rajan pushed him away, causing the cabby to fall backwards and hit his head on the ground.

State Coroner Victor Yeo said that it was not in dispute that Mr Rajan did not retaliate when Mr Chew assaulted him. Instead, Mr Chew was the aggressor and Mr Rajan had no intention of causing the injuries that led to the death of the taxi driver.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Mr Rajan said he was relieved that the case had ended. However, he revealed that he still had flashbacks about the incident and regretted his actions to this day.

- TODAY/sc

 

[besotted]

wah lau, both parties wrong.

but taking screwdriver to attack passenger escalated an unpleasant event into a fatal one for the attacker

 

[singveld]

what is this? kangaroo court giving favour to president friend?
this is disgusting sentence.

 

[shOUTloud]

No lah. Taxi driver too hiong leow. Screwdriver leh! I will also push back

 

[fishbuff]

No lah. Taxi driver too hiong leow. Screwdriver leh! I will also push back

are u sure the taxi driver HAD the screwdriver? since he is dead, he cant tell HIS side of the story. If i killed someone who broke into my house and shoved a screwdriver into his hand, i will have my justification to commit the killing.

 

[Highfalutin]

Put yourself in the passenger's place. For a moment forget about him being an Indian. An FT stealing our jobs. What would you have done? How should you be judged by the law? How much would you have given for the taxi clean up? Would you have known in advance that you will puke in the taxi?

Taxi drivers who are willing to earn the money of drinkers during the nightshifts should have barf bags made available. A little common sense would forestall many unfortunate episodes of grief.

 

[SamuelStalin]

are u sure the taxi driver HAD the screwdriver? since he is dead, he cant tell HIS side of the story. If i killed someone who broke into my house and shoved a screwdriver into his hand, i will have my justification to commit the killing.

Hell no. The report explicitly stated "an eyewitness identified the object as a screwdriver". The eyewitness is not his alibi either, so you are spouting nonsense.

 

[SamuelStalin]

Put yourself in the passenger's place. For a moment forget about him being an Indian. An FT stealing our jobs. What would you have done? How should you be judged by the law? How much would you have given for the taxi clean up? Would you have known in advance that you will puke in the taxi?

Taxi drivers who are willing to earn the money of drinkers during the nightshifts should have barf bags made available. A little common sense would forestall many unfortunate episodes of grief.

You're right. The relief driver is probably inexperienced. The ride is probably also in the 20s so 30 dollars should suffice. Also it seems that some taxi drivers have become thugs or were retired thugs that couldn't change their old ways.

There was a non-performing taxi driver recently who even used an umbrella on a Japanese passenger do you recall?

 

[SamuelStalin]

for S$50 bucks, you have to die, do you think it's worth it?

He didn't think he would die despite having a weapon, just like he didn't think his drunk passenger would puke. On his reaction it may be understandable but still it is crazy.

 

[Cestbon]

This kind of taxi driver better die. try to attack passenger with screwdriver and asking extra $50 for clean up. Extra $20 is good enough.

 

[Highfalutin]

You're right. The relief driver is probably inexperienced. The ride is probably also in the 20s so 30 dollars should suffice. Also it seems that some taxi drivers have become thugs or were retired thugs that couldn't change their old ways.

There was a non-performing taxi driver recently who even used an umbrella on a Japanese passenger do you recall?

Just the fact that the passenger was willing to pay $30, case closed! Put it this way, hazards of the job! Count yourself lucky if passengers don't cause you to report back to taxi company to answer a complain for being rude if they puke on to the back of your head while you are driving! This sort of thing never happened? Hahahahah..............

 

[Highfalutin]

clean up vomit need to collect money?

can't do it yourself? want to hire FTs cleaner to do the job meh?

the job hazards of being a taxi driver? cleaning up smelly vomit from drunken passengers?

Does "loss of opportunity cost" rings a bell? Oh I am talking to a member of " money for nothing by giving fallacious promises" gang on Sundays.

 

[krafty]

i have encountered passengers short changing me, running away...also like that,no point waste time arguing and making ploice report.

Does "loss of opportunity cost" rings a bell? Oh I am talking to a member of " money for nothing by giving fallacious promises" gang on Sundays.