Negligent taxi driver jailed 3 weeks for causing death of pedestrian

SINGAPORE — Working as a delivery driver and taxi driver, Soo Yeow Pin was fined after he beat the traffic light in September last year, and then again for driving inconsiderately a month later.

His disregard for the safety of others got him into deeper trouble in April this year, when he failed to keep a proper lookout while driving a taxi and caused the death of a 53-year-old man.

For that, the 46-year-old was jailed three weeks on Thursday (Dec 13) and banned from driving for five years. He pleaded guilty to committing a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide.

On April 14, Soo was driving his taxi out of a public housing estate after dropping off a passenger, and making a right turn into Boon Keng Road towards Towner Road at about 9.30pm. He did not notice a man, Lew Thiam Choy, crossing the road in front of his vehicle and hit him.

Lew died at the scene from a head injury.

Although Lew was not crossing the road at a traffic junction, Deputy Public Prosecutor Soh Weiqi submitted that he was not crossing the road within 50m of the “no pedestrian crossing” zone, which means that he was not considered to be jaywalking.

She also noted that the weather was fine, traffic flow was light and visibility was clear at the time of the accident, which was captured by a closed-circuit television camera at a nearby car park gantry.

In seeking a one-week jail sentence for his client, Soo’s lawyer, Mr Shaneet Rai, pointed out that the cabbie did not try to evade responsibility and immediately rendered help after the accident took place, by trying to divert traffic away from the victim who was lying on the road.

Soo also realises the “folly of his actions” and feels “deep remorse” for the consequences of his negligence, he added.

“For someone who is truly remorseful, this may be the harshest punishment... The painful lesson has been learnt,” he said.

Mr Rai also said in mitigation that Soo, who has worked as a delivery driver since 2004, applied for a taxi licence in or around 2014 in order to earn some extra income for his family. He has two daughters in primary school, and his wife works as a coffee shop assistant.

He lives with his aged mother, who is ill and hospitalised at Sengkang General Hospital.

In meting out the three-week jail term, District Judge Ng Peng Hong said that the punishment for similar cases can extend up to four weeks in jail.

Due to the condition of his mother, he allowed a deferment for Soo to start serving his sentence on Jan 15.

Soo is out on a S$10,000 bail.