Teacher fined $4,000, banned from driving for 2 years for causing pedestrian's death
Siti Ainah Maduri, 24, was fined $4,000 and banned for driving for two years for causing the death of 83-year-old Madam Chan Poh Quan.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW
Published May 12, 2016, 12:31 pm SGT
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent
SINGAPORE - A teacher was filtering her car from the centre to the right lane when she hit an elderly pedestrian, causing her death.
On Thursday (May 12), Siti Ainah Maduri, 25, was fined $4,000 and banned from driving for two years after admitting to causing the death of Madam Chan Poh Quan, 83, through her negligence.
The accident happened along Bukit Batok East Avenue 6 at about 3.40pm on April 27 last year. The court heard that Siti Ainah intended to turn right at the cross-junction of Bukit Batok East Avenue 6 by Bukit Batok Avenue 1.
In the midst of changing lanes, with almost two-thirds of her car inside the right-turning lane, she suddenly saw Madam Chan walking across the road in front of her.
By then, Madam Chan was about 10m away from her car. The car was unable to stop in time, and struck the pedestrian, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Speaking on behalf of Madam Chan's family, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lee Zu Zhao said the family recognised it was an accident and had forgiven Siti Ainah. They also asked the court to be lenient to her.
He sought a fine of $3,000 to $4,000 plus an appropriate disqualification period.
Siti Ainah's lawyer Peter Ong said his client was deeply sorry for having caused Madam Chan's death, and was traumatised after the accident.
He said she had been a careful driver since 2012 and kept a clean record. Since the accident, she had stopped driving and scrapped her car.
He said he was grateful that the prosecution was not pressing for a custodial sentence, but at the same time, said his client took responsibility for what had happened.
District Judge John Ng noted that Siti Ainah was not speeding or drink driving.
"I think the only lapse would be that you had failed to keep a proper lookout. It is clear that if you had paid slightly closer attention, you might have seen Madam Chan earlier, and therefore, you might have avoided this fatal consequence," he said.
He said the family also recognised that Madam Chan had crossed within 50m of the traffic junction which actually put herself at high risk.
The maximum penalty for causing death by doing a negligent act is two years' jail and a fine.
