Three e-scooter riders involved in separate collisions sentenced
SINGAPORE — Two teenagers and a man involved in three separate e-scooter cases were sentenced in the State Courts on Monday (19 August).
The two teens, Yap Thanabadee, 19, and Muhammad Lutfi Dzakir Abdul Rahman, 18, were given six months’ and nine months’ probation, respectively, for hitting two children while riding their e-scooters. They had earlier pleaded guilty to one count each of causing hurt through a rash act.
The man, Toh Zhiwei, 35, was given one week’s jail after he was found guilty of causing hurt to a Taiwanese tourist outside of Chinatown MRT station. Toh had claimed trial to the charge of causing hurt through a rash act and was later found guilty.
Toh will be appealing the sentence.
Hit nine-year-old boy outside J-cube
Yap, who is serving his national service, hit a nine-year-old boy while he was making his way from J-cube to Blk 371 Jurong East Street 32 on 24 March. The boy cannot be named to protect his identity.
He was travelling at 25kmh when he noticed a bus pulling into a bus stop in front of Blk 210 Jurong East Street 21. As he assumed that no passengers were alighting, he did not halt. But as he neared the busstop, the victim and his father alighted from the bus. He was unable to stop in time and collided into the nine-year-old boy, causing him to fall to the ground.
The boy suffered from skin abrasions on the back of of his right ear and his right knee. His father later brought Yap with him to the police station to lodge a police report.
Hit toddler outside Eastpoint Shopping Mall
Lutfi, a 16-year-old student at the time of the incident, hit a three-year-old girl along a pathway near a bus stop at Eastpoint Shopping Mall on 10 August 2017. The girl, her elder brother, and their mother exited the mall and headed towards the bus stop. The toddler and her brother ran ahead at the same time that Lufti rode his e-scooter towards the same busstop.
Lufti failed to slow down despite noticing the crowd of pedestrians and commuters. He continued riding at a speed of about 17 to 19 kmh. As he approached the busstop, he saw the victim stepping onto the pavement.
Although he tried to stop his e-scooter with his left foot, he collided into the toddler, causing her to fall. He stopped to help the victim and provided his particulars to her mother. He later visited the hospital and offered to pay for the girl’s medical expenses.
The girl suffered from mild abrasions and cuts on her right knee with a minor head and limb injury. She was discharged on the same day.
Hit Taiwanese tourist outside Chinatown MRT station
Toh hit a 45-year-old Taiwanese tourist, who fell and hit her head on the ground. He was riding his e-scooter at between 13 and 15kmh at about 3.49am on 26 January last year outside Exit E of the MRT.
The tourist, Liang Yuan-Chia, was on holiday with her husband and daughter when the incident occured.
As it was raining, the ground was wet. After looking at a directory board outside of the MRT, Liang turned right to walk forward while looking at her handphone.
This was when Toh, who was riding in the same direction as Liang, hit her from behind. His e-scooter collided into Liang’s right heel causing her to fall.
Liang suffered from a minor head injury and strained buttocks.
For causing hurt through a rash act, each could have been jailed up to a year and fined a maximum $5,000.
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