Van driver who dragged pedestrian along road, killing her after making discretionary left turn, gets jail

SINGAPORE: A van driver who made a discretionary left turn at a traffic junction in Pasir Ris hit a pedestrian who had the right of way and dragged her along the road with his vehicle before rolling over her.

The 68-year-old Singaporean woman died as a result of the accident on her way to work, while the driver, 61-year-old Singaporean Tan See Say, drove off and was arrested later that day.

Tan was sentenced on Friday (Jul 12) to 10 months and four weeks' jail and banned from driving for eight years.

He pleaded guilty to three charges under the Road Traffic Act for driving without due care and attention, causing death; failing to stop after a traffic accident and failing to render assistance. A fourth charge was considered in sentencing.

The court heard that Tan was driving along Pasir Ris Drive 1 before 6am on Jan 27 last year.

He stopped at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 1 towards Loyang Avenue, intending to turn left onto Pasir Ris Drive 6.

The victim, 68-year-old Ong Siang Guat, was waiting for the light to turn green in her favour so she could cross the road. The technician was on her way to work.

As she began to cross when the lights turned green in her favour, Tan executed a discretionary left turn and his van knocked into Mdm Ong, who fell backwards.

The vehicle dragged Mdm Ong's body for a short distance before Tan stopped his vehicle. He then drove off again, rolling over Tan.

In video footage that was played in court to the sobs of two women in the public gallery, Mdm Ong's body was dislodged from under the van and remained on the road.

Tan then drove off without stopping to check on Mdm Ong.

The driver of a car that had been behind Tan's van at the junction honked at Tan before alighting to check on the woman.

He called for an ambulance and Mdm Ong was taken to hospital with multiple injuries. She died that same day, and her daughter put up a post on Facebook calling for witnesses.

FINED AT LEAST 10 TIMES BEFORE

The prosecution listed Tan's previous relevant traffic violations from 1992. He has been fined at least 10 times since then for speeding, careless driving and dashing red lights.

His most recent violation cited by the prosecution was in 2021, when he paid a fine of S$400 (US$297) for failing to conform to a red-light signal.

The prosecutor sought between 12 months and six weeks' jail and 15 months and nine weeks' jail for Tan, along with an eight-year driving ban.

She said Tan had "obviously failed" to look out for pedestrians crossing before turning left, when the pedestrian had the right of way.

She said it was "unexplainable" why Tan had failed to spot Mdm Ong before executing his left turn.

Tan had also stopped immediately after the collision with his hazard lights on, and admitted to feeling a bump as stated in his mitigation plea.

However, he then drove off "at a relatively fast speed" before turning into a car park.

HE DID NOT KNOW HE HAD KNOCKED INTO SOMEONE: DEFENCE

Defence lawyers Sunil Sudheesan and Ms Joyce Khoo from Quahe Woo & Palmer sought about seven months and two weeks' jail for Tan instead.

According to the mitigation plea, Tan owns a few clothing stalls around Singapore and he was driving the company van to deliver clothes to a stall in Pasir Ris Drive 6 when the accident occurred.

After parking, he checked his van's tyres and did not observe any puncture or damage to the van, so he felt "puzzled" as to why he had felt a bump earlier.

He found out about the collision from the traffic police, the defence said.

Mr Sudheesan said his client did not know he had knocked into someone. He said the sun rose at about 7.16am that day, while the incident occurred at 6.07am.

He said the victim "unfortunately was only 1.45m tall" while the maximum height of the van was 1.98m.

"While the accused person did check, he did not check enough, and therefore he was careless," said Mr Sudheesan.

"It is quite apparent because of the victim's height that he totally missed out the fact that there was somebody there. This is coupled with the fact that he didn't appreciate that at 6.07am somebody would be crossing the road."

He said that when Tan stopped his van, it was "absolutely not within his contemplation that there was a person beneath his vehicle" and that was why he drove off.

District Judge Kok Shu-En said she struggled with the defence's submission.

"The word you used (in your mitigation plea) was 'oblivion'. He completely didn't realise," she said. "But this was a pedestrian at a pedestrian crossing, on a green man light. He didn't notice the pedestrian, he didn't notice he knocked down the pedestrian, he didn't notice he dragged the pedestrian and rolled over the pedestrian. So even if I accept that none of the dangerous driving elements are present, the degree of careless driving is quite astounding."

The judge said Tan dragged the victim for "quite a distance".

In response, Mr Sudheesan said his client should have stopped and should have "appreciated that something more serious could have happened and alighted", but said he did not know at all that he had run over a human being.

The lawyer said that his client was not trying to avoid criminal sanction, unlike other typical hit-and-run situations. Instead, Tan always intended to plead guilty.

"He's been overwhelmed by guilt since the incident, and he's so bitterly sorry that he didn't check properly. He's not that tall of a man himself, so when (the prosecutor) says there was a line of sight, I disagree," said Mr Sudheesan.

In response, the prosecutor said Tan should have seen Mdm Ong if he had paid attention.

On pressing by the judge, the defence agreed that it was possible for Tan to have sighted Mdm Ong if he had exercised due care and attention.

In sentencing, Judge Kok said there was a "significant degree of carelessness" in this case. She allowed Tan to begin his jail term next week.