Driver in Tampines chain collision admits to running red light at 129kmh, crashing into 3 cars and killing 2

SINGAPORE: A driver in a deadly chain collision in Tampines pleaded guilty on Thursday (Aug 6), admitting to running a red light at a speed of at least 129kmh and barrelling into vehicles crossing a junction, killing a 17-year-old student and a 57-year-old woman.

Most of the vehicles involved in the multi-vehicle collision at peak hour on Apr 22, 2024, were driven by parents ferrying their children to school.

On the morning of the fatal collision, Muhammad Syafie Ismail had dropped off a GrabHitch passenger on Tampines Road. When a man taking his teenager to school overtook him, Syafie became angry and accelerated to at least 122kmh to overtake the vehicle dangerously.

In swerving in and out of lanes along Bedok Reservoir Road, he narrowly missed a motorcyclist, side-swiped the vehicle he overtook and kept going, accelerating throughout.

At about 7am, Syafie came to the cross junction of Bedok Reservoir Road, Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Avenue 4, where the light had been red for at least 26 seconds.

He dashed straight into the junction at a speed of 129 kmh to 134kmh, even though vehicles with the right of way were travelling across the road in both directions.

THE COLLISIONS

Syafie collided with three vehicles, which in turn spun and hit a van and a school bus.

The first vehicle was driven by a 48-year-old man who had dropped off his wife and daughter and was ferrying his 17-year-old daughter to a school.

On impact with Syafie's speeding car, the vehicle spun, flipped and overturned, colliding with two other vehicles on the way. The driver inside drifted in and out of consciousness and eventually fainted.

When he came to in hospital, the first thing he asked was: "Where is my daughter?"

He broke down when he heard she had died, and was pushed by a nurse to the bed where her body lay, in order to hold her hands.

The second vehicle Syafie collided with similarly spun. It was driven by a 42-year-old woman who had dropped off her daughter and was taking her 11-year-old son to school.

After the crash, the woman checked on her son, who had unbuckled his seatbelt and run away to a nearby block of flats.

She climbed out from the front passenger side and found her son. They returned to the area and saw that the 17-year-old girl from the first vehicle was trapped under theirs. Firefighters were trying to extricate her.

The third vehicle Syafie hit mounted a kerb and crashed into a lamppost.

It was driven by a 43-year-old man who was taking his daughters, aged seven and 11, to school.

After the impact, the man immediately checked on his daughters and asked them to walk to school as it was nearby.

He was taken to hospital with a sprained neck.

THE SECOND COLLISION

The school bus in the second collision, which was caused when the first vehicle spun out of control, was driven by a 60-year-old woman who was ferrying an 11-year-old student.

When Syafie hit the first vehicle, it spun and hit her bus. She immediately attended to the boy in her bus, who had a cut on his head.

Her own children later took her to hospital as she remained in shock and felt pain in her chest. She was diagnosed with anxiety following the accident and prescribed pain relief medication.

The van was driven by a 64-year-old man who was ferrying his colleagues. A 39-year-old man was in the front, and a 57-year-old woman was in the back, sitting on a sofa which was bolted onto the rear.

When Syafie hit the first vehicle, it hit the van, which also spun.

The driver was shocked, but regained his composure and applied his handbrake, stopping the van.

The woman in the back was lying motionless and died of multiple injuries from the accident.

The van driver suffered injuries including a fracture and tenderness, and his arm was placed in a sling.

Syafie came to a stop only when he hit green railings along Tampines Avenue 4.

He remained in his seat until a member of the public helped him out, and sat on the road until the authorities arrived.

His vehicle was destroyed in the high-speed crash, and two portions of the railing and a lamppost were damaged.

The chain collision hampered traffic flow in the aftermath, with one person calling the police saying they had been stuck in traffic for 45 minutes.

The police had to stop all traffic at the junction for forensic examination and for the clearing of debris, broken glass and spilled oil.

The shocking aftermath of the accident prompted 17 people to lodge police reports, saying they saw someone trapped below a vehicle, many people injured, blood on the floor and white smoke from a car.

Syafie, a 45-year-old Singaporean man, pleaded guilty to three charges for dangerous driving causing death, causing grievous hurt and causing hurt. Other charges will be considered in sentencing.

IMPACT ON VICTIMS

The court heard that several of the victims were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after the collision.

The mother of the 17-year-old girl who died also developed major depressive disorder. 

She experienced extreme sadness, felt life was meaningless and blamed her husband because he was alive while their daughter had died.

However, she rationalised that it was not his fault. She blamed the school for arranging the event that day. She also blamed herself, because she had an instinct that day that something bad would happen.

She missed her daughter greatly and avoided that junction, arguing with a taxi driver when he drove past it.

She stopped working, had no energy to do housework and struggled to attend to the needs of her other children.

Another victim, the 11-year-old boy who was being driven by his mother to school, suffered recurring nightmares after the accident.

Loud noises would remind him of the accident, and he felt scared and worried that something bad would happen.

He also became more worried about his mother and would request toilet breaks in school to cry.

His mother, an accountant at the time, was diagnosed with PTSD and had to take on a less demanding role so she could go for physiotherapy.

Her role changed from financial analysis to regulatory reporting, and this will hamper her future career progression, the court heard.

After the accident, the woman broke down crying daily and tried returning to work but initially felt unwell and could not concentrate.

Her sleep was disturbed by episodes where she experienced anguish, panic and crying. She avoided reading about the accident in the news.

Sentencing was adjourned to September, as defence lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya needs time to prepare its mitigation and sentencing submissions as the prosecution submitted its sentencing submissions only a few days prior.

The prosecution has yet to submit on sentence in open court.

However, the court heard that Syafie is a repeat offender.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Niranjan Ranjakunalan said he has a "chequered driving history", but mentioned only his April 2022 violation for careless driving.

For this, he was fined S$200 (US$156) and given six demerit points.

The judge asked about the other traffic violations in his history, but was told that only compounded offences post-2019 are taken into account for sentencing.

For dangerous driving causing death, Syafie could be jailed for between two and eight years and banned from driving for up to 10 years.

For dangerous driving causing grievous hurt, he could be jailed between one year and five years and banned from driving for up to eight years.

For dangerous driving causing hurt, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.