Driver who failed to look out for oncoming traffic pleads guilty to causing friend’s death

SINGAPORE — A 25-year-old driver who failed to keep a lookout for oncoming traffic and caused the death of a friend through her negligence pleaded guilty to the charge on Thursday (March 14).

Honami Lam Qixin was driving her boyfriend and Jasmine Lim Jia Yan, then 23, home on April 22 last year, after the birthday party of Lim’s boyfriend.

She had offered Lim a lift after the party and Lim sat in the rear on the left, while Lam’s boyfriend Jake Lau Zhi Wei, then 26, took the front passenger seat.

At around 12.56am, the car was at the junction of Jalan Anak Bukit and Jalan Jurong Kechil.

Lam wanted to turn towards the Pan-Island Expressway in the direction of Changi, and went ahead before the right-turn green arrow flashed.

At the same time, an off-service SMRT bus was driving in the opposite direction towards Clementi Road.

The driver, Mr Thanjavour Rajarm Prabhuram, saw Lam’s vehicle turning and tried to stop the bus, but it was too late.

The bus crashed into the left side of the car, causing it to spin before stopping. Lam, who suffered bruises to her right hip and left knee, got out and called the police and an ambulance.

Lim was taken to the hospital but later died from head injuries.

Mr Lau suffered bruises on his chest and pain in his right knee.  

The car was badly damaged — its windscreen and left side windows were cracked and its left side was crumpled. Court documents showed that the left rear tyre was deflated and the back of the car was also dented.

The bus’ windscreen cracked and its front bumper was crumpled.

Lam will be sentenced on March 29, with a charge of causing hurt to Mr Lau to be taken into consideration.

For causing death by a negligent act, Lam could be jailed up to two years and fined. She could also be disqualified from driving.

DISCRETIONARY RIGHT TURNS

Jasmine Lim's death was the second case in a week in April last year, where a life was claimed due to a collision involving a discretionary right turn at a traffic junction.  

The other happened on April 19 last year, when 19-year-old Kathy Ong was killed after the taxi she was travelling in with three fellow National University of Singapore undergraduates collided with a car at the traffic junction at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue West and Clementi Road. The taxi driver was charged with causing death by a rash act.

Shortly after that, there was a petition calling for the removal of discretionary right turns.

Within the same month, the authorities said that it is doing away with "discretionary" right turns at traffic junctions where feasible and, in five years, most junctions will allow motorists to make right turns only when the green arrow signal appears.