Ex-delivery driver gets jail, 8-year driving ban for causing death of cyclist in Jurong West

SINGAPORE — A polytechnic student was on Wednesday (June 1) sentenced to six weeks’ jail and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for eight years after he caused the death of a cyclist in 2020.

Muhammad Adham Ishak was one week into his job as a delivery driver when he failed to keep a proper lookout while he was driving a van.   

As he was leaving a car park, he collided with the 55-year-old victim, who succumbed to his injuries at the National University Hospital (NUH) two days later.

Adham, now 24, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to one charge of driving without due care and attention under the Road Traffic Act. He will begin serving his sentence next week and remains out on bail.

The court heard that around 7pm on Feb 18, 2020, he completed a delivery at Block 531, Jurong West Avenue 1 and needed to get to his next delivery location nearby.

He then began exiting the car park at Block 537, intending to make a right turn in his van onto Jurong West Avenue 1 towards Corporation Road.

He moved into a yellow box, which is meant to improve traffic flow at road junctions, in front of the car park exit at an uncontrolled T-junction.

At the same time, the victim, who similarly worked as a deliveryman, was riding his power-assisted bicycle on the second lane of Jurong West Avenue 1 towards Jurong East Avenue 1.

The victim’s wife believed that he was either on his way home or going to buy dinner for their son.

As Adham drove out, he collided with the victim while still within the yellow box. The other man fell onto the road from the impact, which was heard by a passer-by walking along a nearby pavement.

Adham immediately alighted from his van to check on the victim, who was unresponsive but breathing.

Adham then reversed his van away from the main road after another passer-by told him that it was obstructing traffic.

The victim was taken to NUH in an ambulance and was found to be comatose upon his admission.

He underwent an emergency procedure to remove a piece of his skull due to his head injury, but his progression was deemed “very poor” and he died two days after the accident.

Adham’s van did not have an in-vehicle camera and there were also no Land Transport Authority cameras or closed-circuit television cameras near the accident location.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Benjamin Samynathan sought one to three months’ jail as well as the mandatory minimum disqualification length of eight years.

The prosecutor argued that Adham would have seen the victim coming if he kept a proper lookout.

Adham’s defence counsel, Mr Ramesh Tiwary, told the court that his client’s driving was faultless apart from the momentary lapse in judgement.

He had an “absolutely clean record” and is now in the final year of his common engineering course at Republic Polytechnic, the lawyer added.

Adham could have been jailed for up to three years and fined up to S$10,000, or punished with both.