E-scooter rider pleads guilty over accident that left housewife in coma

·Reporter

13 June 2018 at 5:23 am

A teenage e-scooter rider admitted to crashing into a housewife, which left the victim in a coma, at the State Courts on Wednesday (13 June).

Nicholas Ting Nai Jie, 18, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous hurt via a negligent act.

Court documents show that at around 10am on 17 September 2016, Ting was rushing to a dental appointment on his e-scooter with his girlfriend riding pillion when he collided into 54-year-old housewife Ang Liu Kiow at a bus stop along Pasir Ris Drive 1.

Ang had been alighting from a bus at the time she was hit and did not see Ting approaching.

Ting, who was travelling at about 15kmh, also did not use his horn to alert pedestrians as he rode towards the bus stop. The teenager applied the brakes on his e-scooter but failed to stop in time.

Ting’s girlfriend jumped off the e-scooter just before it crashed into Ang. The impact caused Ang to fall and hit her head on the ground.

Some passers-by helped her onto a bus stop seat, and she was observed to be dazed and unresponsive. She then began to vomit a yellowish fluid.

Ting and his girlfriend called the police for help and requested an ambulance. Ang lost consciousness while she was being conveyed to Changi General Hospital (CGH).

She was put on life support at CGH and had to undergo an emergency operation to stop a brain haemorrhage she had suffered.

Ang would remain unconscious for a month and was discharged on 23 December 2016. Ang’s hospital bills came up to over $107,000, out of which she spent $2,500 following subsidies and an insurance payout.

Ang currently has difficulty speaking, needs help to move around, and requires close supervision for her day-to-day activities. She also has to use a wheelchair to travel distances further than 60m.

Ting will be sentenced on Thursday (14 June) and faces up to two years’ jail, a fine up to $5,000, or both.

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