5 days’ jail, driving ban for elderly motorist who crashed into e-scooter rider and young daughter

SINGAPORE — When making a discretionary right turn, 74-year-old motorist Neo Hock Bin failed to spot a father and daughter riding across a pedestrian crossing on an electric scooter while the green man was showing.

The retired nurse ploughed into them, causing the father to suffer fractures and an ankle sprain, as well as less serious injuries to his daughter.

Neo was sentenced to five days’ jail and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for 18 months on Wednesday (Dec 11), after pleading guilty to causing grievous hurt to Mr Sharma Sanjeev Kumar by a negligent act.

The court heard that the accident happened at about 9pm on May 27 this year. Video footage of it was played in court.

Neo had been driving along Gerald Drive and stopped at the junction of Yio Chu Kang Road when the traffic light was red, before making a right turn onto Yio Chu Kang Road.

Mr Sharma, 40, and his eight-year-old daughter, who was riding pillion, were riding across the pedestrian crossing at that point. Neo failed to give way and collided into them.

There was little traffic and visibility was clear.

Mr Sharma’s leg was fractured in the accident and he also sustained bruises on his chest, buttocks and lower back. He was given 47 days of medical leave and needs more surgery later to remove the metal rod used to treat his leg fracture.

During his medical review in July, he continued to experience pain in his leg and buttock during prolonged walking and needed to use crutches, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jean Goh told the court.

The girl, who received treatment at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital, was found to have an abrasion on her shoulder. She was given two days of medical leave.

DPP Goh sought one week of jail for Neo, saying that it was “plainly fortuitous” that the girl did not suffer more serious injuries.

She argued: “His manner of driving was incredibly dangerous, not just because he failed to keep a proper lookout — he failed to keep any lookout at all.

“It is rather obvious that the victims were not in his blind spot. The victims were dressed in white and purple, which is not difficult to see at night. The road was brightly lit,” the prosecutor added.

In mitigation, Neo’s lawyer Satish Rai said that he voluntarily gave up his licence after the accident as he does not want to drive anymore.

“He has spent his whole life tending to the sick and injured… Beyond calling and ensuring the ambulance was there, he went on his own initiative and called two friends, one of whom has experience in emergency medicine. Their experience helped to calm the situation,” Mr Rai added.

“(Neo) feels tremendous guilt over what he did. He felt really bad about the victim’s daughter and he’d like to place on record his apology to the victim,” Mr Rai said, asking for a heavy fine or a one-day jail term.

In passing sentence, District Judge John Ng told the court: “All of us drive — minor lapses could result in catastrophic consequences. Consequences will have a large part to play in the sentences to be passed.”

For causing grievous hurt by a negligent act, Neo could have been jailed up to two years, fined up to S$5,000 or both.