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West Coast Highway e-bike deaths: Trailer driver’s account ‘highly dubious’

SINGAPORE — It was “entirely plausible” that fatigue and poor rest led a trailer truck driver to collide into a group of three e-bikers along West Coast Highway last October, killing two of them.

A road accident that took place at the junction of West Coast Highway and Pandan Crescent left two men dead, and one injured. Photo: Eric Ang/Facebook

A road accident that took place at the junction of West Coast Highway and Pandan Crescent left two men dead, and one injured. Photo: Eric Ang/Facebook

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SINGAPORE — It was “entirely plausible” that fatigue and poor rest led a trailer truck driver to collide into a group of three e-bikers along West Coast Highway last October, killing two of them.

Ruling the deaths of Ong Zi Quan, 19, and Ang Yee Fong, 26, “truly tragic traffic misadventures”, Coroner Marvin Bay said on Friday (Oct 20) it was likely Mr Sahadevan Senguttuvan had fallen asleep at the wheel along the straight stretch of road.

The 35-year-old driver’s account of the accident – which happened at close to midnight on Oct 27 last year – was “highly dubious and very likely untrue”, said Mr Bay. Mr Sahadevan’s account “goes against the grain of the testimonial evidence” from the surviving cyclist Marcus Loke, 18, witness Supramaniam Thangamani as well as CCTV footage shown in court.

Mr Loke had said on Thursday that the trio, who were travelling from Jurong West to his grandmother’s place in Telok Blangah, were travelling in single file on the leftmost lane of the four-lane road and had not stopped along the way.

However, Mr Sahadevan said he saw the e-bikers lined abreast and stationary on the leftmost lane. He said it was quite dim along the stretch of road near Pandan Crescent and that he could not see the e-bikers properly.

According to Mr Bay, the “most likely scenario” was that Mr Sahadevan had failed to notice the trio cycling ahead of him. The lack of brake marks on the road also showed “no braking or evasive action” taken by the trailer driver.

“The only rational explanation for Mr Sahadevan’s failure to stop, and (to) instead continue on his path … must have been that (he) did not detect the three … riders,” said the coroner.

The LED lights on the e-bikes, bought on the morning of the incident, should have been detectable by “any reasonably alert and watchful driver”, he said. Mr Sahadevan’s inability to spot the bikers “must be because of gross inattention”.

Mr Sahadevan’s claims of not feeling sleepy or fatigued at the time of the accident “are highly suspect”, added Mr Bay.

The trailer driver said he had started work at around 7.20am and had taken an hour’s nap from 9 to 10pm. He said that it was not uncommon for him to work for 12 hours — and even more, more some days.

Breaks of 15 to 30 minutes would be taken for meals. He would sometimes eat his meal in his vehicle, which he had been driving for 2.5 months.

“The monotonous nature of … prolonged driving, and his expected fatigue may well have taken a toll on his alertness,” Coroner Bay said.

The possibility of him dozing off at the wheel “might well explain his curious inability to give any coherent account of what happened,” he added.

Since 2014, there have been at least 13 deaths involving e-bikes — a “sobering fact” the coroner highlighted.

On Thursday, Mr Loke had testified that shortly before the accident, he had turned his head to check on traffic behind as he wanted to change lanes to make a right turn to a McDonald’s outlet nearby. He saw his friends behind him but when he turned his head again thirty seconds later, he could no longer spot Ang – who was at the back of the pack – but saw the trailer approaching Ong. Mr Loke said he told Ong to move faster in Mandarin and saw the trailer collide squarely into his friend.

Mr Sahadevan, whose employer was not mentioned, was heading from Penjuru to Keppel Distripark with an empty container when the accident occurred. He was questioned by Ang’s sister and Ong’s mother on Thursday but none of the parties was in court when Mr Bay delivered his findings.

TODAY has contacted the police on whether charges will be pressed against Mr Sahadevan.

 

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