SINGAPORE — A former taxi driver whose negligent driving led to a collision that killed his student passenger was sentenced on Friday (Aug 2) to eight weeks’ jail.

Yap Kok Hua, 55, was also banned from getting or holding all classes of driving licences for five years after his release.

On April 19 last year, Yap was driving National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduate Kathy Ong Kai Ting and three of her friends when he turned right at a signalised cross junction, even after he had spotted a car speeding towards him from the opposite direction.

Both vehicles ultimately collided into each other, killing Ong, 19, and severely injuring the other passengers.

Yap’s taxi also hit a stationary car at the junction.

Yap pleaded guilty last month to causing Ong’s death by a negligent act and one charge of causing grievous hurt to Mr Zon Lim, Mr Lim Jin Jie and Mr Ting Jun Heng, who were all 22 at the time.

Two other charges of causing hurt to the driver of the car he collided into, and failing to ensure his rear-seat passengers were wearing seatbelts, were considered for sentencing.

The driver of the other car, 22-year-old Ng Li Ning, was charged in February with driving in a dangerous manner by speeding at 92km/h. His case is still pending before the courts. 

THE JUDGE’S GROUNDS 

An accident avoidance analysis by the Health Sciences Authority found that both drivers could likely have avoided the collision if Ng had kept to the 70km/h speed limit. Yap was travelling at about 24km/h then.

But in his brief grounds of decision on the sentence, Second Principal District Judge Victor Yeo said that he would not consider Ng’s speeding a mitigating factor in Yap's case, because Yap had caused “a very serious collision through his own negligent conduct”.

The judge also disagreed with Yap’s lawyer Josephus Tan’s description of the case as “unique”. 

Mr Tan had earlier argued that his client “stopped intermittently at the turning pocket and checked for oncoming traffic”, which was “in stark contrast to the typical dangerous driving or even careless driving”.

District Judge Yeo noted it was Yap’s responsibility not to turn right when it was clearly unsafe to do so.

Furthermore, Yap has a history of traffic offences dating back to 1992, such as speeding and failing to conform to a red-light signal on three previous occasions, the judge said. “This reflected his attitude towards road safety and his unwillingness to comply to traffic laws.”

Ong’s parents, Mr Keith Ong and Ms Edith Ng, were present in court on Friday and declined to speak to reporters. 

Ong was their only child.

WHAT HAPPENED

Ong was in her first year of environmental studies at NUS. 

She and her friends took Yap’s taxi to return to their hostel at Tembusu College from Clementi Mall at around 7.30pm. 

Ong sat in the back with two other students, while Mr Zon Lim sat in the front passenger seat.

Yap had driven for about two minutes when they arrived at the junction of Commonwealth Avenue West and Clementi Road.

When the traffic light turned green, Yap moved forward into the right-turn pocket, stopping to check for vehicles coming from the opposite direction.

Yap saw Ng speeding towards him but he decided to make the discretionary right turn into Ng’s path anyway and collided into the other man’s car.

All four victims were taken to the National University Hospital, where Ong was pronounced dead at about 10.30pm.

Mr Ting suffered traumatic brain injuries and multiple fractures, and remained in a vegetative state for some time. He managed to get better, and is still undergoing rehabilitation at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Mr Lim Jin Jie suffered a fracture, among other injuries. He stayed in hospital for eight days and was given 144 days of medical leave.

Mr Zon Lim was kept on a neck brace and hospitalised for eight days. He was given 23 days of medical leave.

For causing death by a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, Yap could have been jailed up to two years, fined, or both. 

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