Jail and fine for food delivery rider who collided with 2 pedestrians while drunk or using phone

SINGAPORE: A food delivery rider who collided with two pedestrians either while drunk or using his phone was sentenced to nine weeks' jail and fined S$1,500 on Tuesday (Nov 16).

Tian Wei Jie, 35, had pleaded guilty a day earlier to four charges: Causing grievous hurt by a rash act, causing hurt by a rash act, voluntarily causing hurt and riding an electric bicycle on a footpath.

Tian first worked as a food delivery rider for Foodpanda. He was riding at a speed of about 19kmh to 22kmh on a footpath in Bedok South Avenue 1 on the evening of Jul 7, 2019, when he checked his handphone for information on his job assignment.

He did not keep a proper lookout and collided with the first victim, a 77-year-old man who was out on a walk. The man fell and sustained a type of stroke, as well as bleeding in his skull.

He required life-saving surgery and was warded for 102 days, with his family incurring medical bills of S$46,557 that were fully covered by his insurance payouts as well as MediShield and Medisave.

Tian was arrested in April last year but released on bail. He switched to working for GrabFood and met some friends at a coffee shop in Bedok North on Mar 7 this year where he drank six 750ml bottles of beer.

While intoxicated, he rode his power-assisted bicycle home. On the way, he collided with a 60-year-old man who was walking on a footpath along Bedok North Street 3 with his wife.

After the collision, Tian cursed at the victim, before pushing him to the ground and punching him multiple times when he was told not to ride in such a dangerous manner.

Tian rode off after seeing that a crowd had gathered. The victim later incurred S$126 in medical expenses, which Tian paid him for.

The prosecutor called for seven to 10 weeks' jail and a fine of between S$1,500 and S$2,000. He said greater harm was caused as the first victim suffered bleeding that required emergency surgery.

Tian also had high culpability, as he saw that other pedestrians were walking along the pavement but "persisted in riding his PMD faster than the speed limit" and used his phone while riding.

For the second incident, not only did Tian flee the scene and show no remorse, he committed the offence in a public place and was voluntarily intoxicated, said the prosecutor. 

He also offended while on bail for the first offence and further injured the second victim by attacking him multiple times.