ITE lecturer jailed one week for causing death of motorcyclist

An Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East lecturer was sentenced on Wednesday (7 December) to one week’s imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to causing the death of a Malaysian motorcyclist.

Chan Wai Chong, 51, was also disqualified from driving for five years after he was deemed to have failed to keep a proper lookout at a traffic junction while he was turning his car to the right, which caused the death of 33-year-old Lee Khang Ling.

The court heard that on 3 March this year at about 7.10am, Chan was driving in a car with his son and daughter when he was turning right from Hougang Avenue 2 onto Hougang Avenue 8 at a signalised T-junction.

Chan drove into the right turn pocket and stopped for about three seconds, and started making a right turn into Hougang Avenue 8 before the green right-turn arrow appeared, even when the traffic light was green in favour of vehicles in the opposite direction.

As a result, Chan enroached into the path of the deceased’s motorcycle, which was travelling straight into the junction. The deceased, who had the right of way, could not stop in time and collided with Chan’s car.

The deceased was thrown off his motorcycle. He was conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and was pronounced dead.

In mitigation, Chan’s lawyer, Daniel Chen, said that his client is a careful driver and has not incurred any demerit points in the 20 years since he got his license. Chan is remorseful and has been haunted by the incident ever since it happened, Chen added.

Additionally, Chan also got out of his car to render assistance to the motorcyclist and called for the police. He has also been attending counselling since the incident and gave his full co-operation to the police and pleaded guilty at an early stage.

Chan has also been recognised by ITE for various contributions, including his care for students with special needs.

For causing death by negligence, Chan could have been jailed for up to two years.