Taxi driver jailed, banned from driving for knocking down student at zebra crossing
Screengrab from Google Street View of the zebra crossing near HomeTeamNS Bukit Batok, along Bukit Batok West Avenue 7.
SINGAPORE: While approaching a zebra crossing, a taxi driver diverted his attention to his mobile display terminal for a booking and collided into an 18-year-old student, flinging her on the road.
The girl, who was in the midst of her A-Level examinations, sustained skull and brain injuries and developed impairments in her language functions and hearing.
The cabby, 64-year-old Eu Hock Leng, was sentenced on Tuesday (Dec 1) to three months' jail and banned from driving for two years.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous hurt by a rash act endangering human life. This act was by checking and pressing the mobile display or data terminal within his cab while driving and failing to keep a lookout on the road, resulting in a collision with the victim.
The court heard that Eu began his night shift at about 5pm on Nov 17, 2017. At about 7.30pm, he was driving in Bukit Batok West when he approached a zebra crossing at a speed of more than 20kmh.
While he drove, he noticed that the mobile display terminal in his cab indicated that there was a booking.
He began to check and press the terminal and did not pay attention to what was in the path of his vehicle, and did not notice the zebra crossing.
As his cab mounted the elevated zebra crossing, it collided into the victim who was just a few metres from reaching the other side of the road.
The 18-year-old girl, who was crossing from Eu's right to his left, was knocked onto the taxi's bonnet before being flung on the road.
Eu felt an impact and saw something flying in front of the taxi and immediately stopped his vehicle and alighted.
A passer-by who was waiting for a bus heard a bang and rushed over to check on the victim, who was lying face-down on the ground. He asked Eu why he was so careless, before calling 995.
The victim cried and vomited, and was drowsy and on the verge of fainting. A friend of hers found out about the incident and rushed down, spotting the accused looking "very frantic" and repeatedly saying "I don't know".
She confronted him and asked what happened, and Eu said he was driving at a slow speed and that his car did not have any dent or scratch from the accident.
He exclaimed "aiya", before saying that he had picked up a call and did not see the victim, lamenting that she was so close to the pavement and almost made it, court documents said.
VICTIM'S INJURIES
The victim was taken to hospital with contusions on her brain, bruising on her head, a fracture of her skull and some loss of smell. She was warded for 15 days and her last review in January 2018 showed her to be well and stable with her sense of smell slowly improving.
She went through intensive rehabilitation treatment including physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy for motor dysfunction and cognitive impairment.
She had mild impairment in high language functions, deficits in complex working memory and multi-tasking, and while she has recovered from the complications of acute traumatic brain injury, she may develop related conditions resulting from her previous injuries in the future.
She never managed to complete her A-Level exams, and experienced "a tremendous sense of loss" and other negative emotions, feeling very disabled due to her reliance on her family.
For grievous hurt by a rash act, Eu could have been jailed for up to four years, fined up to S$10,000, or both. He could have been banned from driving for life.
