Driver in Tampines chain collision admits to running red light at 129kmh, crashing into 3 cars and killing 2
Several of the vehicles involved in the chain collision were driven by parents ferrying their children to school.
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SINGAPORE: A driver in a deadly chain collision in Tampines pleaded guilty on Thursday (Aug 6), admitting to running a red light at a speed of at least 129kmh and barrelling into vehicles crossing a junction, killing a 17-year-old student and a 57-year-old woman.
Several of the vehicles involved in the multi-vehicle collision at peak hour on Apr 22, 2024, were driven by parents ferrying their children to school. Ten people were injured.
On the morning of the fatal collision, Muhammad Syafie Ismail had dropped off a GrabHitch passenger on Tampines Road. When a man taking his teenager to school overtook him, Syafie became angry and accelerated to at least 122kmh to overtake the vehicle dangerously.
In swerving in and out of lanes along Bedok Reservoir Road, he narrowly missed a motorcyclist, side-swiped the vehicle he overtook and kept going, accelerating throughout.
At about 7am, Syafie came to the cross junction of Bedok Reservoir Road, Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Avenue 4, where the light had been red for at least 26 seconds.
He dashed straight into the junction at a speed of 129 kmh to 134kmh, even though vehicles with the right of way were travelling across the road in both directions.
Syafie collided with three vehicles, which spun and hit a van and a bus. A 17-year-old student in one of the spinning vehicles was trapped under another vehicle and died from serious injuries that fractured her bones.
Her father had fainted after his vehicle overturned, but when he came to in hospital and heard that his daughter had died, he broke down in tears.
The court imposed gag orders protecting the identities of several of the victims.
Syafiq came to a stop only when he hit green railings along Tampines Avenue 4.
He remained in his seat until a member of the public helped him out, and sat on the road until the authorities arrived.
His vehicle was destroyed in the high-speed crash, and two portions of the railing and a lamppost were damaged.
The chain collision hampered traffic flow in the aftermath, with one person calling the police saying they had been stuck in traffic for 45 minutes.
The police had to stop all traffic at the junction for forensic examination and for the clearing of debris, broken glass and spilled oil.
The shocking aftermath of the accident prompted 17 people to lodge police reports, saying they saw someone trapped below a vehicle, many people injured, blood on the floor and white smoke from a car.
Syafie, a 45-year-old Singaporean man, pleaded guilty to three charges for dangerous driving causing death, causing grievous hurt and causing hurt. Other charges will be considered in sentencing.
IMPACT ON VICTIMS
The court heard that several of the victims were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after the collision.
The mother of the 17-year-old girl who died also developed major depressive disorder.
She experienced extreme sadness, felt life was meaningless and blamed her husband because he was alive while their daughter had died.
However, she rationalised that it was not his fault. She blamed the school for arranging the event that day. She also blamed herself, because she had an instinct that day that something bad would happen.
She missed her daughter greatly and avoided that junction, arguing with a taxi driver when he drove past it.
She stopped working, had no energy to do housework and struggled to attend to the needs of her other children.
Another victim, an 11-year-old boy who was being driven by his mother to school, suffered recurring nightmares after the accident.
Loud noises would remind him of the accident, and he felt scared and worried that something bad would happen.
He also became more worried about his mother and would request toilet breaks in school to cry.
Sentencing was adjourned to a later date, as defence lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya needs time to prepare its mitigation and sentencing submissions as the prosecution submitted its sentencing submissions only a few days prior.
The prosecution has yet to submit on sentence in open court.
However, the court heard that Syafie is a repeat offender.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Niranjan Ranjakunalan said he has a "chequered driving history", but mentioned only his April 2022 violation for careless driving.
For this, he was fined S$200 (US$156) and given six demerit points.
The judge asked about the other traffic violations in his history, but was told that only compounded offences post-2019 are taken into account for sentencing.
For dangerous driving causing death, Syafie could be jailed for between two and eight years and banned from driving for up to 10 years.
For dangerous driving causing grievous hurt, he could be jailed between one year and five years and banned from driving for up to eight years.
For dangerous driving causing hurt, he could be jailed for up to two years, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
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