Former Grab driver pleads guilty to running over passenger’s foot due to negligence

SINGAPORE — After hearing his car’s rear passenger door on the right slam shut, a Grab driver drove off without checking if his three passengers, which included a child, were seated.

One passenger was still boarding the car from the other rear door and, to everyone’s horror, the forward movement caused her to lose her balance and fall. Her left ankle was then run over and severely injured by the vehicle’s left rear tire.

The private-hire car driver, 69-year-old Chan Khuan Meng, who is no longer with Grab, failed to check that all his passengers were in the car because he was preoccupied with the Grab application on his mobile phone, trying to find out where to drop them off.

He had picked up the three passengers at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, from the pick-up point near the Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden, at about 11.20pm on May 26 this year.

On Tuesday (Dec 11), Chan pleaded guilty to one charge of driving his car in a manner so negligent as to endanger the safety of Ms Sridevi Balpanathan, a 41-year-old Singaporean.

Immediately after the incident, Ms Balpanathan could not stand up by herself and had to be helped onto a wheelchair. She was taken to the National University Hospital (NUH) in an ambulance.

X-rays showed that she fractured her ankle bone and suffered a partial dislocation of her ankle, and she had to undergo surgery.

Dr Chee Yu Han, a consultant from the Division of Muscloskeletal Trauma at NUH, said that Ms Balpanathan would not be able to walk for up to three months, and may have some permanent disability to her ankle joint from the early onset of osteoarthritis in the next five to 10 years. Osteoarthritis is a common form of arthritis which occurs when the cartilage or cushion between joints breaks down.

She was hospitalised for four days and given 18 days of medical leave.

District Judge Victor Yeo has scheduled the sentencing on Jan 8 next year. Chan remains out on a S$10,000 bail.

The judge said that the accident boils down to the driver failing to perform a “really quite basic” deed of checking that his passengers are properly seated before driving off.

This case is different from other driving accidents, where there is a more well-cut-out matrix to ascertain the level of culpability, such as not stopping in time or making a sharp manoeuvre, he added.

Chan had close to 40 years of driving experience, and was driving for about a year with Grab.

For causing grievous hurt through a negligent act as to endanger human life, he may be jailed up to two years, and/or fined up to S$5,000. He may also be disqualified from driving.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Lim Wei Yang is seeking a S$5,000 fine and an 18-month driving ban, while Chan’s lawyer, Mr Russell Pereira, is asking for a S$2,500 fine and a 12-month driving ban, pointing out that the fine is harsh enough considering the driver’s take-home salary of about S$1,500 a month.

In his client's mitigation plea, Mr Pereira emphasised that this was not an incident which involved the flouting of traffic rules, straddling of traffic lanes, dangerous driving conduct or even any collision.

“On the contrary, our client had moved off slowly after he thought all the passengers had boarded his vehicle,” he said, adding that Chan’s actions were caused by a “single momentary lapse in concentration” on his part, which he “deeply regrets”.

In the meantime, arrangements for a compensation order is being made to ensure that Chan pays Ms Balpanathan S$1,899.55 in medical bills. Mr Pereira said that Chan had offered to pay this earlier on, but could not reach her.