No foul play in death of elderly man who fell when bus driver braked abruptly to avoid car: State coroner

SINGAPORE — A state coroner has found there was no foul play in the death of an elderly man who fell on a bus after the driver braked abruptly to avoid a collision with a car. The man died over a week later in hospital.

In his findings, State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said on Wednesday (Aug 10) that 68-year-old Siah Keok Tiang died on Sept 16, 2021 as a result of a misadventure.

He said that Siah died in hospital due to ischaemic heart disease and multiple organ failures; the head injury he had suffered in the incident eight days earlier contributed to this.

State Coroner Nakhoda on Wednesday laid out the sequence of events that led to Siah’s death.

On Sept 8, Siah boarded SBS Transit bus service 175 to head home after a dialysis session at the National Kidney Foundation Dialysis Centre along Upper Boon Keng Road.

When he left the centre, he was walking steadily without needing mobility support. It was noted that he did not experience any giddiness or suffer from any active bleeding after his treatment.

The bus he boarded was travelling in the fourth lane on the road — the designated bus lane — of North Bridge Road.

As it approached Liang Seah Street, where Siah intended to alight, a car tried to filter from the third lane onto the bus lane where the road was marked with broken dotted lines.

Cars are allowed to enter designated bus lanes at such broken lines.

The car, which was about 1.5 car-lengths ahead of the bus just before the accident, was signalling left to turn into Liang Seah Street, less than 20m before that junction.

Footage from the bus’ camera showed the car appearing to slow down before filtering onto the lane.

The bus driver, who said that he was looking three to four car lengths ahead, noticed the car only as it began to encroach into his lane and had to apply the brakes abruptly to avoid a collision.

The car also swerved back into the third lane after the near-miss.

Throughout the incident, camera footage showed that the bus was travelling within the speed limit of the road.

The investigation officer for the case also said there was no evidence that the bus driver had purposely accelerated his vehicle to prevent the car from entering the lane, the state coroner noted.

State Coroner Nakhoda said that footage from the car’s in-vehicle camera showed that the broken line marking between the two lanes began from Tan Quee Lan Street and ended right after Liang Seah Street.

The traffic in the bus lane ahead of the car was also clear.

This meant that the car could have filtered in earlier, but instead had done so very close to the entrance of Liang Seah Street, where it meant to turn.

At the point when the bus braked abruptly, Siah had already pressed the bell and was seated on the edge of his seat with the intention to alight.

Because of the sudden braking, Siah was thrown forward and “in all likelihood hit the bus floor” and one or more vertical poles in the bus, State Coroner Nakhoda said.

The man had multiple traumatic injuries due to the incident, including on his head, the top part of his spinal cord, ribs and pelvis.

Siah’s daughter said that her father did not appear to recognise her when she spoke to him soon after he was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Although he had initially shown improvement after he was warded, he later developed acute severe infection.

In the wee hours of Sept 16, his daughter was informed by the hospital that he was in critical condition, with his organs failing.

His condition further deteriorated and he died at about 7.37am that day.

State Coroner Nakhoda said that a lesson that can be drawn from the unfortunate incident was that besides signalling early, drivers should also position their vehicle to make an intended turn early instead of doing so at the last minute.

He said that if the car driver had started to filter into the bus lane earlier instead of at the last minute, it may have given more time for the bus driver to slow down and react to the situation.

State Coroner Nakhoda also offered his condolences to members of the Siah family who were present in court.