SINGAPORE — For around 8km from Bartley Road East until Tampines, two drivers swerved their vehicles into each other's paths and braked abruptly in front of the other, causing both cars to collide repeatedly in a chain of incidents that lasted nearly 10 minutes, a court heard.

At one point in a series of dangerous driving maneuvers, Agustinus Hadi, 54, and Yap Soon Leong, 55, took turns braking abruptly in front of each other in their Audi A7 saloon car and Kia Optima respectively.

Their road rage only ended after Yap drove into a car park, but Hadi could not follow as his in-vehicle unit was not working.

At the State Courts on Tuesday (March 21), Hadi, a Singaporean, pleaded guilty to a single charge under the Road Traffic Act pertaining to dangerous driving and was sentenced to seven months’ jail.

He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for three years, which will take effect from the date of his release.

Hadi drove in a “deliberate and vengeful” manner, prosecutors said.

“Even though he had numerous opportunities to disengage, he chose to settle his dispute with (the other driver) by using his car as a means of retaliation,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Shen Wanqin.

Yap, who is also Singaporean, was fined S$4,000 on July 28, 2021 after he pleaded guilty to a similar charge. He was also disqualified from holding all classes of driving licences for 20 months.

THE CASE

Court documents stated that the incident between the two men took place around 2.15pm and 2.23pm on Aug 14 in 2020. It added that traffic flow at the time was moderate, and the road was wet due to rain.

DPP Shen said both drivers were travelling along Braddell Road towards the direction of Bartley Road East.

Both drivers were on the right lane, with Hadi driving in front of Yap, who was with his daughter.

When they entered Bartley Road East towards Tampines, Yap filtered to the left lane of the two-lane road and accelerated to overtake Hadi’s car.

He then abruptly changed from the left lane to the right and encroached into Hadi’s path.

DPP Shen said Hadi, on his part, had also accelerated his vehicle while Yap was attempting to change lanes and both cars sideswiped each other as a result.

As a result, Yap's right mirror folded inwards.

Unable to overtake Hadi, Yap subsequently ended up behind the Audi driver and went back to the right lane.

As they were driving on a three-lane road along Bartley Road East, Yap sounded his horn twice, filtered left and accelerated his vehicle to about 75km/h to overtake Hadi.

Court documents then stated that he was able to overtake Hadi after "abruptly" changing lanes to end up in front of the Audi driver.

Once the Kia was ahead, Yap stepped on his brakes and slowed his speed to around 70km/h. Hadi then swerved left to avoid a collision, the court heard.

Following this, Yap immediately reduced his speed to 56km/h while still being ahead of Hadi on the right lane.

Shortly after, Hadi filtered left, cut into Yap's path and braked suddenly, causing the latter’s car to collide into his. 

After the collision, Hadi drove forward for a short distance and stopped again. He then quickly reversed his car and rammed the rear of his car into Yap’s before driving off.

Yap stopped his vehicle momentarily and waited for Hadi to leave before he drove forward.

However, Hadi found Yap again at some point and accelerated towards the older man’s car and rammed the right side of his Audi into the left of Yap’s Kia.

The impact caused Yap to veer right and hit the raised centre divider, though it did not stop him from driving.

Hadi then followed Yap towards Tampines Avenue 1, a three-lane road, and accelerated into the rear of the Kia while they were both on the middle lane.

This act was repeated by Hadi three more times when they reached Tampines Avenue 5 before Yap was able to escape from Hadi by driving into a car park, which the younger man was unable to enter due to a faulty in-car unit.

Yap then drove out of the car park to the Tampines Neighbourhood Police Centre to lodge a report, while Hadi remained stuck at the car park barrier.

DPP Shen said Hadi, whose occupation was not stated in court documents, drove to work after he lost sight of Yap.

HADI'S CONDUCT 'BORE ELEMENTS OF ROAD RAGE'

While no one was injured, the incident resulted in about S$13,300 worth of damages to Yap’s car which had dents on its front and rear, as well as scratched tyre fenders.

The prosecutor said the cost of damage to Hadi’s car was unknown, stating that the front, side and rear portions of the Audi were damaged.

DPP Shen, who sought a jail term of 3.5 months and an order for Hadi to be disqualified from holding all classes of driving licences for a period of four years, said Hadi’s conduct “bore elements of road rage”.

Despite several opportunities to disengage, Hadi chose to use his car as a means of retaliation.

“This amounts to an aggravating factor…(and) the Court takes a dim view of drivers who lose their temper easily and who (choose) to react disproportionately,” she said.

Anyone found guilty of dangerous driving can be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to one year, or both.