SINGAPORE — Feeling tired after having slept for five hours the night before, Gwee Kim Han nodded off at the wheel of his Tower Transit bus and collided into a stationary lorry along Pasir Panjang Road in March 2018.

Four of the lorry’s passengers suffered serious injuries, including multiple fractures, while four others escaped with minor injuries such as abrasions. No one in the bus was hurt.

Gwee, 48, was on Wednesday (May 5) sentenced to two weeks’ jail and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for two years after his release. 

He pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous hurt by a negligent act. District Judge Luke Tan took into consideration another charge of causing hurt by a negligent act for sentencing.

The court heard that Gwee was employed by Tower Transit in March 2016. The incident took place on March 16, 2018, and he was let go by the company five days later.

When he was assigned to ply bus service 143, he underwent training where he was reminded not to drive while he was tired and was taught how to manage his fatigue, Deputy Public Prosecutor Melina Chew told the court.

He reported for his shift at 2am on the day of the incident and began driving at 3am. He felt tired and very sleepy by then.

The weather was clear and traffic flow was light then.

While driving along Pasir Panjang Road towards Jalan Buroh at around 6.30am, he fell asleep. When he woke up, he realised he was about to crash into the lorry parked on the extreme left lane.

The impact caused the victims and others who were boarding the lorry to be flung off. Those in the driver’s and passenger seats were also injured.

The lorry rolled forward onto the pavement from the impact. Gwee swerved and applied the brakes, bringing the bus to a stop.

Footage of the accident was captured by a Land Transport Authority parking enforcement camera, which was played in court.

According to court documents, four of the victims — aged between 49 and 60 — suffered fractures.

Two of them had long-standing complications. One was assessed to have “permanent limitation of his wrist movements” and was given 253 days of medical leave, while the other had “long-standing weakness in his left hand” and was given 78 days’ medical leave.

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