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Motorist fined $10,000 over fatal accident

(Yahoo file photo)
(Yahoo file photo)

A 62-year-old Singaporean man was fined $10,000 and disqualified from driving for five years on Monday (27 March) for causing the death of a pedestrian in a traffic accident in November 2015.

David Joseph John pleaded guilty to a single charge of causing death through a rash or negligent act, which caused the demise of Wong Fook Hin, 79, along Outram Road on 13 November 2015.

Another charge of causing grievous hurt was taken into consideration. This was in relation to an October 2015 accident in which John collided with a nine-year-old boy while driving his van along Jalan Bukit Merah.

According to the statement of facts, John was driving his van along Outram Road at 7.14pm on 13 November 2015. He was approaching a side road leading to Back Alley Road and had turned his head to his right to look out for oncoming vehicles.

He did not keep a proper lookout and instead ran into the deceased who was crossing the five-lane road at that time.

The statement of facts added that an eyewitness saw John’s van hitting Wong and surging forward some distance before coming to a stop. Wong was rushed to the Singapore General Hospital and succumbed to his injuries 10 days later.

Appearing before District Judge Ng Chin Ong, Deputy Public Prosecutor Delicia Tan urged the court to impose a custodial sentence of between two and four weeks, arguing that John had failed to keep a proper lookout despite traffic being clear during the incident.

However, District Judge Ng agreed with John’s lawyer Jason Lim that the deceased was crossing the road within a pedestrian no-crossing zone.

“There was no evidence that the accused was speeding at the material time and I agree with the defence that the deceased had jaywalked that night,” said the judge, who imposed the maximum fine on John.