SINGAPORE — A director of an engineering company, who was on Tuesday (July 25) handed a 14-week jail term and a lengthy disqualification from driving after she hit and "flung" a pedestrian into the air while making an illegal right turn, has appealed against her sentence.

The incident caused several fractures in the spine and arm of the then 37-year-old victim, who was crossing the road when the green man signal was still lit up.

The court heard that the driver, Lim Hee Joo, 51, has a history of multiple traffic offences such as speeding and inconsiderate driving.

At the State Courts on Tuesday, the executive director at aerospace manufacturer Wah Son Engineering was sentenced to 14 weeks' jail after pleading guilty to a single charge of dangerous driving causing harm.

She was also disqualified from obtaining or holding any classes of driving licences for 42 months, or three and a half years.

WHAT HAPPENED

The incident occurred on Feb 3, 2020 at a signalised cross-junction between Sin Ming Avenue, Upper Thomson Road and Venus Drive, according to court documents.

Lim was driving along the left lane of Sin Ming Avenue in the direction of Venus Drive.

She decided to make a right turn at the junction to go to Upper Thomson Road when she saw that there was a break in the traffic.

Without slowing down, she drove past the queue of cars waiting to turn right at the turning lane, thereby making an illegal right turn.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sunil Nair stated that the victim Grace Ong had started to cross Upper Thomson Road at the signalised pedestrian crossing at the time and was about two-thirds of the way when Lim executed the right turn.

Having initially failing to notice Ms Ong crossing until a moment before the collision, Lim tried to brake but could not stop her car from colliding into the pedestrian.

Ms Ong, who did not see the car, was flung up into the air after the collision and was not able to get up when she fell back to the ground.

Following this, Lim exited her car and attempted to render assistance to Ms Ong.

The collision was captured on the in-vehicle camera footage of a witness's car who was waiting to turn right at the junction.

Ms Ong was subsequently taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital while conscious.

As a result of the accident, Ms Ong sustained a burst fracture of the first lumbar vertebra in the back, haematoma in the upper spine area, and a displaced fracture in the upper arm. Haematoma refers to a bad bruise due to a pooling of blood.

CAUSED SERIOUS INJURY

The prosecution called for four months' jail and 48 months' disqualification for driving, given Lim's past history with traffic offences including speeding, parking at unbroken double yellow lines, and driving on the shoulder of an expressway.

In Lim's mitigation plea, her defence counsel Sunil Sudheesan claimed that she had been suffering from obstructive sleep apnea at the time of the accident and did not know the severity of her condition even as she had been experiencing "bouts of tiredness". 

Mr Sudheesan urged the court to consider sentencing his client to a few days' jail and a 24 months' disqualification, or a maximum fine of S$10,000, as the victim did not sustain any permanent injuries.

He added that Lim is deeply remorseful and has been forgiven by the victim.

When asked by District Judge Christopher Goh if Lim was currently driving, Mr Sudheesan said she was but added that she had taken steps to help improve her condition.

The judge said during sentencing that the facts were very clear as Lim had opted to make an illegal right turn when she saw a break in traffic, causing the victim to suffer serious injuries.

Lim also had a number of compounded traffic offences, he noted.

For dangerous driving causing hurt to another person, Lim could have been fined up to S$10,000 or jailed up to two years, or both.