Delivery driver, Kong Shyh Pyng, was jailed for three weeks and banned from driving for four years after dozing off at the wheel of his Class 3 lorry and eventually striking and running over a cyclist - killing him on the spot. Though the 39-year old driver had covered over eight pairs of speed regulating strips over the speed limit of 70km/h, he only awoke minutes after hitting 25-year old, Mr Jude Alphonsus Tan Wei Xiong, in an accident that occurred on May 26th 2012.Source
Another delivery driver who was commuting in the opposite direction of Changi Coast Road, a famous spot for cyclists, witnessed Kong's lorry deviate to the left, mount a kerb and return onto the road before striking into the rear of Mr Tan - who got flung onto the centre right portion of the left lane before getting run over by the Class 3 lorry of Kong. Mr Tan died instantly.
Kong stopped around 400m from the accident scene and according to The Straits Times; Mr Kong only woke up after hearing a loud noise while travelling over the speed regulating strips. Kong could have faced a harsher sentence of jail for up to two years and/or fined for causing death by negligence.
At least I'm seeing more cyclists actually on the road, popularity is in no doubt soaring. Which means motorist see more cyclist, expect them on the road and thus roads become safer. Ride safe.
My condolence as well to the family of the deceased cyclist. But I am enraged at the 3 weeks' jail time for "murder". That is so lenient on the driver. The law must be changed. Why must the act of killing others at the wheels not the same degree of seriousness as homicide?
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm a fellow Singaporean who accidentally stumbled onto your blog. However, I have noticed that over the years, you have been spending less and less time on this blog. The number of times that you have updated this blog has also dropped drastically over the years. From 159 posts in 2011, to 68 posts in 2012, to only 1 post to date for 2013. I suppose most people lose interest in writing blogs after the first two years. I have noticed this phenomenon not just in your blog, but also the blogs of many other Singaporean bloggers too. I guess the reason is because as you grow up and become an adult, you become more mature and come to the realisation that spending time writing a blog is actually quite 'boliao'. People come to the realisation that in Singapore, time is precious, and thus, many people just stop updating their blogs altogether. I guess you too have finally come to realisation the there is really more to life than spending time writing blog entries, huh?
ReplyDeleteOh, nice that someone noticed. You might be on the right track there. I still ride my bike, just much less. And quite frankly I would rather be on the bike then typing. Work, family & friends, riding, and some other things give little time for blogging.
DeleteI do have much unfinished posts that I think about, but hey procrastination is probably the biggest culprit since... Forever!
How come your blog posts have dropped so drastically from 159 posts in 2011, to 68 in 2012, to only 1 in 2013?
ReplyDelete