Alexandra Canal accident caused by ‘moment of distraction’: Coroner
Yep Lay Choo and her daughter Kimberly Poon died on Jan 24, 2016 after the car they were in crashed through a railing and plunged into Alexandra Canal. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — A “moment of inattention or distraction” was likely what caused Yep Lay Choo to step on the accelerator instead of braking, causing the silver Mercedes-Benz she and her daughter were in to plunge into the Alexandra Canal on Jan 24, said State Coroner Marvin Bay on Monday (July 11) as he ruled their deaths a “truly tragic misadventure”.
Yep, 51, and her 22-year-old daughter Kimberly Poon had tried to escape, as shown by how both were found free of their seat belts.
But several factors combined to foil them, including the neck injuries they sustained from the sharp plunge into the canal, and being severely disorientated after the car turned turtle.
Judging from the position she was found in, Yep may have stayed behind to help her daughter, he added.
An inquiry last Monday heard that Poon’s friend, Ms Tiffany Tan, had been texting her on Whatsapp that night. According to Ms Tan, her last message was read by Poon at 9pm, around the time the accident took place. This might have distracted Yep, said the officer who investigated the case, as she did not apply the brakes even after the car had gone over the final hump on its way out of the mall’s car park.
As a result, the momentum caused the car to lurch forward, strike a kerb and crash through planted bushes before plunging into the canal.
While Yep had made a “last-minute attempt” to swerve to the left to avoid crashing into the railing at the canal, this was “unfortunately too little and too late”, said Mr Bay yesterday.
Travelling at around 35kmh, Yep had “evident difficulty” correcting her course in the three seconds before she reached the canal about 14.6m away, which resulted in a steep plunge, he added.
Mr Bay also said that if the car had been submerged upright, rescue efforts would have been far more straightforward.
He added: “The descent in such cases will be more gradual and the power windows might continue to work to facilitate escape before the electrical system becomes inoperable upon prolonged immersion in water.”
Mr Bay said breaking out of the submerged car by opening the doors in the duo’s case was “theoretically possible” but would still be a considerable feat, pointing to how the rescue diver took two attempts before he was able to enter the car via the door.
There is no reason to suspect foul play in the accident as the vehicle was found to be normal and not badly maintained, while CCTV footage had “indisputably” showed that the car exited the basement carpark of Valley Point Shopping Centre in an “atypical manner”, said Mr Bay.
The court heard that Yep’s husband, Mr Robin Poon, had driven the duo around earlier in the day in the same car, and left them at about 6pm for a work meeting.
Yep then took the wheel and drove her daughter to Valley Point Shopping Centre for dinner and to shop for groceries.
Mr Poon told investigators that his wife was a good and cautious driver, and that she had never shown any suicidal tendencies.
He also said that Yep had driven the silver Mercedes-Benz — her favourite of the six cars the family owned — for several months before the fatal accident.
