Teen cyclist who caused elderly pedestrian's death after crash at Tampines Park Connector jailed 2 weeks
SINGAPORE — A 17-year-old teen who was working part-time for Foodpanda crashed his bicycle into an elderly jogger at Tampines Park Connector in June last year, causing her death from head injuries, a court heard.
While cycling along the connector, Muhammad Adli Adi had taken both hands off the handlebars to use his mobile phone.
At the State Courts on Friday (1 November), the errant cyclist, now 19, was jailed for two weeks.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of causing death by a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, by failing to keep a proper lookout while riding his bicycle along a shared path.
The accident took place at about 8pm on 3 June last year.
Adli was riding his bicycle along the connector at a speed of about 23kmh to deliver pizza to a location in Pasir Ris when he received a notification on his mobile phone. The maximum speed allowed along a shared path is 25kmh.
The teen took out his mobile phone and replied to a message on Instagram using both his hands. Thereafter, he placed his left hand on the bicycle handlebar, locked the screen of the phone with his right hand, and was placing the phone into his right pocket when he looked up.
As he looked up, he saw a 60-year-old mother of three, Poh Cho Hui, also known as Violet to her friends, to his left and very close to him. Adli could not avoid crashing head on into her right side.
Both the cyclist and jogger fell onto the ground. Poh lay on her back unresponsive with her eyes open. She was also bleeding from the back of her head.
The victim was sent to hospital via ambulance. She arrived at Changi General Hospital unconscious with severe traumatic brain injury. Among other injuries, she had a broken skull and bleeding in the brain.
The victim died six days later.
A vehicle inspection found that Adli’s bicycle was not fitted with any front headlight. The Active Mobility Regulations stipulate that cyclists have to use a front light at night.
The maximum punishment for causing death by a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide is up to two years’ jail and a fine.
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