Police officer jailed for dozing at the wheel, hitting 2 students at NTU

SINGAPORE: After a night of disrupted sleep, a police officer dozed off at the wheel of a police car and hit two university students at a zebra crossing.

The two victims, both women now aged 24 and 25, suffered fractures and were hospitalised for about a week.

Norimawati Abdullah, 31, was jailed for three months on Wednesday (Apr 27) and banned from driving for five years after her release.

She pleaded guilty to a charge of driving without reasonable consideration for other people using the road.

Norimawati had been working at SPF for about eight years at the time of the offence last year. She holds the rank of staff sergeant.

The accident took place at around 6.20pm on Jan 1, towards the end of her shift.

She was driving a police car along Nanyang Avenue near Hall 11 of the Nanyang Technological University at the time. Her duty partner and a reservist officer were also in the car.

The two victims and a third friend were crossing a zebra crossing along Nanyang Avenue. Two of them were holding umbrellas as it was drizzling slightly.

As the police car approached the zebra crossing, Norimawati dozed off at the wheel. Her duty partner noticed that she was not slowing the car down and turned to look at her.

He saw that her eyes were closed and immediately shouted "Ma'am! Ma'am!" to wake her up. She woke abruptly and applied the emergency brakes, but failed to stop the car in time.

The front of the car hit the two victims with some force. The impact flung one victim towards the left rear of the car, and carried the other victim on the car's bonnet for a few seconds before flinging her 2m to 3m in front of the vehicle.

All three police officers got out of the car to help the victims, and Norimawati called for an ambulance.

The victim who was carried on the car's bonnet sustained fractures to her neck and pelvis, and underwent surgery. She was eventually discharged with 24 days of hospitalisation leave.

The victim who was flung to the car's rear suffered a pelvic fracture and cuts on her face. She also received surgery and was discharged with 62 days of hospitalisation leave.

The accident also caused about S$1,440 of damage to the police car.

During investigations, Norimawati said that she had five to six hours of disrupted sleep the night before her shift, which was from 8am to 7.30pm on the day of the incident.

She admitted that she had been feeling sleepy before the accident but went ahead to drive the police car despite this.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Tay Jingxi asked for a sentence of three to four months' jail, while defence lawyer Amarjit Sidhu asked for four to six weeks' jail.

Mr Sidhu asked the court to consider Norimawati's efforts to balance her responsibilities as a young mother and professional police officer in sentencing.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Friday that it initiated investigations against Norimawati after the accident.

Following her conviction, SPF has commenced "internal action" against her, it said.

"Officers of the Singapore Police Force are expected to uphold the law and maintain the highest standards of conduct and integrity," said SPF.

"We deal with officers who break the law severely, including charging them in court."

The penalty for causing grievous hurt by driving without reasonable consideration for other people using the road is jail for up to two years, a fine of up to S$5,000 or both.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this article said that Norimawati Abdullah has been suspended from SPF, according to her defence lawyer. SPF has clarified that it has commenced internal action against her following her conviction.