Man jailed 5 weeks over fatal Woodlands accident
A 57-year-old man who knocked down an elderly pedestrian at Woodlands Drive 65 in January was sentenced to five weeks’ imprisonment on Wednesday (23 August).
Eric Israel Teow Kok Hua pleaded guilty to one charge of committing a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide before District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt. He was also banned from holding on to a driver’s license for a period of five years upon serving his sentence.
The court heard that at about 8.10pm on 16 January, Teow had failed to give way while making a right turn in his Toyota Altis at the junction of Woodlands Drive 65 and in the process knocked down 62-year-old Lee Kiat who was using pedestrian crossing.
While the traffic light had been in Teow’s favour, he had failed to notice Lee who was using the crossing while the traffic light was also in her favour. The resulting collision saw Lee flung a distance away from the pedestrian crossing. She died of her injuries on 20 January. The court also heard from two witnesses to the accident, who said that Teow did not slow down while making the turn.
Low Xiao Y, 23, who was driving a car behind Teow, said that the accused had maintained a steady speed while making the turn. The other witness, Khor Boon Has, 30, said that he saw Teow applying the brakes only after he had collided with Lee.
In mitigation, Teow, who was represented by his lawyer Lim Kim Hong, said that he was remorseful over the accident. His lawyer added that it was an unfortunate incident and that Teow had not been speeding and had not beaten the red light.
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