Australian fined $5,000 for fatal accident on PIE
An Australian woman was fined $5,000 and disqualified from driving for four years for causing the death of a motorcyclist in an accident along the Pan Island Expressway (PIE) in 2015.
Roberts Katie Maree, 44, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing death through a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide.
Appearing before District Judge Tan Jen Tse at the State Courts on Tuesday (10 January), Roberts was calm when a video recording of the accident along the PIE on 21 September 2015 was played in court.
Reading from the statement of facts, Deputy Public Prosecutor Dora Tay said that Roberts, who was driving a Hyundai Tucson sport utility vehicle (SUV), had failed to keep a proper lookout while she was switching from the extreme right lane.
During the hearing, DPP Tay revealed that the motorcyclist Loh Lin Ken, 25, did not have a valid license.
Loh was lane splitting between the first and second lanes when his motorcycle hit the rear of the SUV. The impact caused Loh to lose his balance and he landed on the second lane before a passing lorry ran over him. He was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene.
Shortly after the accident, Roberts stopped her vehicle, switched on the hazard lights and called 995. Roberts left the scene as she felt it was unsafe for her to wait at the road shoulder.
When Roberts returned home later that night, she informed the police about the accident and provided her particulars.
DPP Tay asked the court to impose an $8,000 fine and disqualification from driving of between three and four years on Roberts.
The prosecutor said that Roberts should have kept a proper lookout before switching lanes. Investigations revealed that the rider was in her blind spot for at least 3.6 seconds, she added.
Roberts’ lawyer, Sunil Sudheesan, argued that Loh, who was riding on a high-capacity motorcycle, should not have been on the road as he did not have a license.
“The victim’s level of culpability in this case was high…my client signaled her intention to switch lanes and did so at a slow pace,” he said.
In sentencing Roberts, Judge Tan said that while the deceased was riding without a license and lane splitting, his “culpability was on the lower end”.
