2 killed, 1 injured as trailer truck slams into e-bikers

SINGAPORE — Two men, one of them only 18, were killed in an accident along West Coast Highway on Thursday (Oct 27) night by a trailer truck that left their power-assisted bicycles in smithereens.

The accident took place on West Coast Highway near Pandan Crescent, a stretch heavily used by large and sometimes fast-moving vehicles that only a month ago had new traffic lights installed.

One of the e-bikers, 25-year-old Ang Yee Fong, was pronounced dead on the spot, while 18-year-old Ong Zi Quan was taken to the National University Hospital (NUH), where he succumbed to his injuries. A third male, Marcus Loke, 17, remains hospitalised .

The 34-year-old trailer truck driver has been arrested for causing death by negligence, said the police.

The tragedy on Thursday, however, is not the first road accident that has claimed the lives of e-bike users.

Between 2013 and last year, the number of fatalities and injuries involving power-assisted bicycles on the road has gone up. According to figures provided by the police, the number of fatal accidents was one in 2013, two in 2014 and five last year.

Accidents that resulted in injuries numbered five in 2013, four in 2014 and spiked to 22 last year. Figures for this year are not yet available.

West Coast Highway is used by many heavy vehicles, such as lorries and trailer trucks, that sometimes travel at high speed, said residents and workers in the area. Due to the danger posed, few pedestrians jaywalk and the majority of cyclists keep to the pavements and cycling paths on both sides of the highway, they said.

Traffic is significantly lighter at night and some cyclists, especially those in groups on long rides or heading to West Coast Park, would use the road, residents said.

Changes were recently made to the stretch of highway near Pandan Crescent, where the new Inchcape centre is located. In the past month, a portion of the road divider near Inchcape centre was removed to create a junction to enable vehicles to turn into and out of Pandan Crescent, said employees working there. A yellow box and two traffic crossings were added.

Some motorists might not be aware of the new traffic lights, said an engineer who only wanted to be known as Mr Suresh. The 45-year-old, who has worked in the area for three years, said he would wait a few seconds after the green man signal appears, in case any heavy vehicle takes a longer time or distance to come to a halt.

“There’s always some risk crossing the road,” said another engineer Arun Subramanian, 33. Before the traffic crossings were set up, pedestrians crossed West Coast Highway using an overhead bridge less than 100m away. In the last six months, barriers were also erected on the road divider to deter jaywalking, said the engineers.

Residents said pedestrians and road users typically abide by traffic rules. “It’s the first time I’m hearing of cyclists involved in an accident here,” said technician Siva Karthik, 35, who has lived in West Coast for over 10 years.

He did not want to speculate on factors that led to the tragedy on Thursday night, saying: “An accident is an accident, it could not have been planned.”

Those who cycle in the area include residents and workers, some of whom ride to the nearby supermarket or to the hawker centre for lunch. A cyclist working at Pasir Panjang wholesale centre and who lives nearby, said those on two wheels need to be careful and ride slowly. “I won’t rush,” said the man, who declined to be named. “You cannot think that the road is yours.”

Member of Parliament for Mountbatten and Transport government parliamentary committee member Lim Biow Chuan noted that some users of power-assisted devices may be trying them out for the first time. Calling for all road users to be more careful and considerate, Mr Lim made a special appeal to heavy vehicle drivers: “Whether you’re right or wrong (in an accident), you can cause a lot of harm.”