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Car driver who sped and injured 3 pedestrians near MBFC jailed 15 weeks

(PHOTO: Jack Tan)
(PHOTO: Jack Tan)

SINGAPORE — A 27-year-old man whose car hit and injured three pedestrians while overtaking near Marina Bay Financial Centre was jailed 15 weeks and disqualified from driving for four years on Monday (21 September).

Lim Wei Sheng was convicted of two charges of causing grievous hurt through rash driving endangering human life and one charge of causing hurt through rash driving endangering human life.

The accident was at the bollards near the Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3, at the signalised cross junction of Central Boulevard with Marina Way.

On 15 April last year, Lim was driving on Central Boulevard towards Cross Street behind a silver car.

As he approached the junction, Lim tried to overtake the silver car. He switched from the second lane to the first lane, which was a right-turn only lane, before accelerating and successfully overtaking the silver car.

Lim intended to switch back to the second lane but at the same time, a blue car travelling on that lane attempted to execute a right turn into Marina Way, with his right turn signal turned on. The second lane allows for vehicles to travel straight or turn right.

To avoid colliding with the blue car, Lim swerved his car to the right but lost control. His car travelled straight and collided with a metal bollard at the junction, before continuing straight into a crowd of pedestrians including the three pedestrians, who were waiting to cross the road at the pedestrian crossing.

A forensic report of the accident showed that before the crash, the average speed of the Lim’s car as it travelled along Central Boulevard was about 91 km/h to 92 km/h. The car reached an average speed of 96-102 km/h about 1 to 2 seconds before the crash. The speed limit was 50 km/h. The report also estimated that the distance travelled from Lim’s attempt to overtake the silver motor car to the collision was 170.5m.

After the collision, the first victim was trapped under the front bumper of the car, the second victim’s left leg was run over by the car, while the third victim was trapped between the car’s front left wheel and the bumper.

The first victim suffered multiple injuries from the accident. Her right knee movement was still limited, and she has to undergo further surgeries to remove the metal plate in her right knee and to reconstruct her right knee ligaments. She is undergoing psychological counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The second victim sustained several leg injuries and had to undergo operations including skin graft while the third victim had injuries on her right chest wall, right arm, left hip, knee and shin.

For causing grievous hurt through rash driving endangering human life, Lim could have been jailed up to four years, or with a fine of up to $10,000, or both for each charge. For, causing hurt through rash driving endangering human life, he could have been jailed up to one year, or with a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

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