Repeat drink driver pleads guilty to crashing BMW into man standing by broken-down car, killing him

SINGAPORE — The case of a repeat drink driver who caused a man's death by crashing his BMW into the victim's broken-down car after downing four glasses of red wine is set to become sentencing precedent under tougher traffic laws.

Businessman Ang Hiap Boon, 51, pleaded guilty on Friday (June 16) to one count of drink driving as a repeat offender and one count of driving without due care and attention causing death.

The crash happened just after midnight on Oct 27, 2020 on a slip road leading onto East Coast Parkway (ECP).

The victim, Syed Kaleemullah, 56, was standing by his car, which also happened to be a white BMW, when Ang's vehicle slammed into the stationary car, inflicting fatal injuries on Syed.

Under traffic laws tightened in 2019, Ang is regarded as a "serious repeat offender" which means he faces harsher potential penalties.

Ang has a history of multiple traffic violations including a 2005 disqualification from driving all vehicles for 16 months over drink driving. He resumed driving in 2007 after he retook his driving test.

As Ang is believed to be the first such "serious repeat offender" to be sentenced under the revised Traffic Road Act, the judge has invited further sentencing submissions from both the prosecution and defence.

Ang is due to be sentenced on Aug 4.

WHAT HAPPENED

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Heershan Kaur told the court that after a day of business meetings, Ang had met up with friends at a Chinese restaurant along Syed Alwi Road in Jalan Besar for dinner.

During dinner, Ang drank about four glasses of red wine and left the restaurant around midnight in his wife's white BMW, headed for home.

He drove the car towards the ECP and made a left turn into Ophir Road where he took the slip road onto the expressway.

Ang was found to have been travelling at between 64km/h and 74km/h, exceeding the 50km/h speed limit.

As the road was an upslope with two lanes, vehicles were required to slow down to navigate the bend as they merged with the ECP.

However, when Ang was approaching the upslope, he was driving at up to 80km/h.

After noticing that a van in front of him had slowed down with its brake lights activated, Ang steered his car to the next lane without keeping a proper lookout ahead.

Ang had steered into the left-most lane when Syed's car was parked presumably after breaking down due to engine issues.

Syed had switched on his tail lights and was outside of his car, walking towards the driver's side as Ang's vehicle approached.

On a road that was illuminated by overhead lighting, Ang would have likely been able to see the tail lights of the parked car through the front windscreen of his car for about four seconds, DPP Kaur said.

A Health Sciences Authority (HSA) report also found that Ang would also have been able to discern Syed from the dark surroundings as there was sufficient contrast with the clothes he was wearing.

When Ang eventually noticed the car and Syed, it was too late and he was not able to apply his brakes in time as his car ploughed into the victim.

Syed did not have time to react either as he was facing away from Ang's oncoming car.

Video footage from Ang's in-car camera was showed in court, capturing the exact moment when his car struck Syed.

As a result of the impact, Syed flew forward onto the road and was found lying on his left near the front right side of his car.

At the time of the accident, two traffic police officers at a roadblock nearby had witnessed the collision.

Syed was taken unconscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

Ang was subjected to a blow test which revealed his breath alcohol content to be 76mg/100ml, which is more than double the legal limit of 35mg/100ml.

Anyone found guilty of causing death by driving can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$10,000 or both.

A serious repeat offender can be jailed for up to four years and disqualified from driving for up to 13 years.

Those guilty of driving while under the influence of alcohol can be jailed for up to 12 months, fined between S$2,000 and S$5,000 or both.

Repeat offenders can be fined between S$5,000 and S$20,000 and jailed up to two years.