Taxi driver charged with causing death of NUS undergraduate in Clementi collision

SINGAPORE — A 55-year-old taxi driver was charged on Friday (Jan 11) for causing the death of his passenger, National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduate Kathy Ong, on April 19 last year.

Ms Ong, who was 19 years old, was travelling in the backseat of the cab with three fellow NUS students when its driver, Yap Kok Hua, allegedly failed to give way to another car. The incident happened at the traffic junction of Commonwealth Avenue West and Clementi Road.

Yap is accused of making a right turn onto Clementi Road, resulting in a collision with the car that was going straight, court documents showed.

Both drivers and the four students were taken to hospital, where Ms Ong later succumbed to her injuries. She was in her first year at the university, studying environmental studies.

Yap, who is represented pro bono by Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation, will return to court on Feb 1.

If convicted of causing death by a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, Yap could be jailed up to two years and/or fined.

Ms Ong’s death was one in a spate of fatal traffic accidents that week.

A 23-year-old woman, as well as a father-daughter pair and their elderly friend were also killed on the roads that period. 

The accidents led to a review by the Land Transport Authority of traffic lights at right-turn junctions.

The LTA said in late April last year that it is doing away with "discretionary" right turns at traffic junctions where feasible. In five years' time, most junctions will allow motorists to make right turns only when the green arrow signal appears.