Motorcyclist on trial after colliding with lorry, causing death of foreign worker sitting in the back
The impact of the collision flung the motorcyclist into the back of the lorry.
SINGAPORE: A foreign worker being ferried in the back of a lorry died of a head injury after a motorcyclist collided with the lorry at a traffic junction.
The motorcyclist, 27-year-old Wilson Koh Zheng Hao, is contesting one charge of riding without due care and attention by failing to pay attention to the road ahead, colliding into the rear of the lorry and causing the death of Mr Verappan Ayyanattar.
The accident occurred on the night of Mar 12, 2020.
According to a statement of facts agreed on by the prosecution and the defence, the victim was one of five passengers sitting in the back of the lorry.
The lorry was heading along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 towards the Central Expressway when Koh's motorcycle collided with the back of the lorry.
The impact of the collision flung Koh into the rear cabin of the lorry.
Paramedics at the scene found the 44-year-old victim to be pulseless and in asystole, and commenced cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
He was taken to hospital with abrasions to his face and the back of his head, with blood in his ear and mouth.
An autopsy determined his cause of death to be a head injury.
On Wednesday, the driver of the lorry Mr Arumugham Sathaiah took the stand.
Speaking through an interpreter, he said he worked for a construction firm and was tasked to ferry workers.Â
On the day of the incident, he had picked up workers and was heading to a dormitory in Woodlands, a route he had driven for a few years.
He was nearing a junction as the vehicle in front of him signalled it was turning right.
As Mr Arumugham wanted to move out of his lane, he turned on his left indicator and was checking his mirror to see if there were any vehicles on the left, when he suddenly heard a "jarring noise".
He said he pulled the handbrake, turned on the parking lights and alighted the lorry.
"I saw behind the (motorcyclist) had been thrown inside the (lorry) with his helmet still on. There was blood everywhere," he said.
Koh, the motorcyclist, is represented by defence lawyer Gogulakannan Suppayya. The trial continues.
If convicted of riding without due care and attention, Koh could be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000, or both. He could also be given a driving ban.
