Jail and driving ban for SBS Transit employee who drove into man in car park, killing him

SINGAPORE: An assistant station manager with SBS Transit was jailed three weeks and banned from driving for five years on Tuesday (Feb 25) for driving into a pedestrian, who later died in hospital.

Kasmani Hashim, 56, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing death by a negligent act.

The court heard that Kasmani was with his family at the open car park next to Decathlon in Stadium Boulevard on Jun 2 last year.

At about 1am on Jun 2, he drove out of his lot and made a left turn along a single lane one-way road in the car park.

His headlights were switched on and he was driving at about 10kmh when he made a right turn towards the car park exit.

However, he failed to keep a proper look-out and did not spot the victim, a 46-year-old man, crossing the road.

The victim was dressed in a dark top and blue jeans and was crossing the road with his back to the car, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Benedict Chan.

The front passenger noticed the victim crossing the road and yelled "someone ahead!" in Malay.

Exclamations and screams were heard at the point of impact in video footage shown in court.

After colliding into the victim's back, causing him to fall onto the road, Kasmani failed to stop his vehicle, running over the victim with the left tyres.

The collision was captured by the in-car camera, and seen by an eyewitness metres away from the vehicle.

Kasmani alighted from the car to check on the victim, while his daughter called for an ambulance and checked on the victim's pulse and breathing.

She noticed that his skull was cracked, and he was bleeding.

The victim was taken to hospital where he died from his injuries less than an hour later.

He was not jaywalking as he was walking within a car park, and he was not using his phone, said the prosecutor.

Kasmani's vehicle was found to be in serviceable condition.

The prosecutor asked for at least three weeks' jail and a driving ban of five years, noting that Kasmani had previously been fined for failing to conform to a red-light signal.

However, the prosecutor said this was "an unfortunate accident that resulted in a death".

The defence said Kasmani felt extremely guilty and tried to visit the victim's family to apologise, but was "rebuffed by the investigator".

He added that the lighting at the site was "especially dim".

For causing death by a negligent act, Kasmani could have been jailed for up to two years, fined or both.