Driver jailed for causing grievous hurt to e-bike rider who remains bedridden
A 59-year-old lorry driver swung open his vehicle door without keeping a proper lookout and caused a power-assisted bicycle rider to crash last year, a court heard.
As a result of the accident, the 75-year-old e-cyclist suffered grievous injuries, including bleeding in the brain, and is bedridden.
At the State Courts on Thursday (4 April), Loh Kuan Meng, the lorry driver, was jailed for one week having pleaded guilty to causing grievous hurt by a negligent act that endangered life or the personal safety of others. The maximum punishment for the offence is up to two years’ jail along with a fine of up to $5,000.
On the morning of 2 February last year, Loh drove along Yishun Ring Road towards Yishun Avenue 2. He stopped the lorry before Yishun Avenue 2 and parked it on the leftmost lane close to the kerb.
Lim Kim Quay rode his power-assisted bicycle to the right side of the lorry in order to overtake it.
However, just before Lim reached the right side of the lorry, Loh suddenly opened his door outwards into the victim’s path. Lim fell off the e-bike and onto the road.
The victim required four brain surgeries and was warded for 84 days. On 27 April last year, he was transferred to a community hospital, where he waited for a place at a nursing home as he was uncommunicative and required feeding through a tube.
Lim was eventually transferred to a nursing home on 18 May last year, and remains there to date.
More Singapore stories:
WhatsApp accounts of at least 90 people compromised by scammers this year: police
$52M worth of pangolin scales seized in Singapore
Two men jailed, fined for operating online prostitution service
COMMENT: Who is the fake news law meant to protect, exactly?
Singapore’s law ministry refutes Human Rights Watch criticism of proposed fake news laws: report
