Youth pleads guilty to crashing into girl, 3, while riding e-scooter near Eastpoint Mall

SINGAPORE — A teenager pleaded guilty on Monday (July 22) to colliding into a toddler, while riding his electric scooter near a bus stop outside Eastpoint Mall in Simei.

Muhammad Lutfi Dzakir Abdul Rahman, who was 16 years old when the incident took place on Aug 10, 2017, admitted to one charge of causing hurt to the victim by a rash act.

District Judge May Mesenas called for a report to assess if Lutfi, who is now 18, is suitable for probation. He will be sentenced on Aug 19.

The court heard that at about 1pm that day, the three-year-old girl, along with her older brother and domestic helper, left the mall to take the bus. They cannot be named as the girl is a minor.

The two children ran towards the bus stop. At the same time, Lutfi was riding his e-scooter on the footpath, which was shared by cyclists, e-scooter riders and pedestrians.

Even though he noticed a crowd of people waiting for the bus, he did not slow down.

“The accused was advertent to the risk of a collision, but proceeded to ride his e-scooter at a speed of about 17 to 19 km/h, as determined by the Health Sciences Authority — a speed which was unsafe in the circumstances,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Colin Ng told the court.

As Lutfi approached the end of the bus stop, he saw the girl stepping onto the pavement and tried to stop his e-scooter with his left foot, but ended up colliding into her.

The girl fell to the ground. Lutfi helped her, provided his particulars to the domestic helper, and went to Changi General Hospital to meet the girl’s mother and offer to pay for the medical expenses.

The girl suffered a mild abrasion on her knee, and was diagnosed with minor head and limb injuries. She was discharged on the same day.

As of February this year, personal mobility device riders are required to keep to a maximum of 10km/h on footpaths and 25 km/h on shared paths.

Causing hurt by a rash act that endangers the personal safety of others carries a maximum jail term of one year, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.

Meanwhile, probation is usually offered to first-time offenders between 16 and 21 years old. It does not stand as a criminal conviction on record and allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentence.