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Jail for lorry driver who looked at phone while driving, causing accident that killed law professor
Natarajan Mohanraj was sentenced to two years and a month in jail, and a fine of $2,000 on Aug 29.
Summary
- Natarajan Mohanraj was driving a lorry on July 7, 2023 when he looked at his mobile phone before the accident occurred.
- The vehicle later struck a car driven by Emeritus Professor Tan Yock Lin, a senior National University of Singapore law professor.
- Prof Tan was rushed to hospital where he died of multiple injuries.
SINGAPORE – A construction worker with a history of careless driving was sent a notice from the Traffic Police in June 2023 ordering him to surrender his driving licence before July 25 that year.
On July 7, about two weeks before the deadline, Natarajan Mohanraj was driving a lorry when he looked at his mobile phone and the vehicle struck a car.
The driver of the car, Emeritus Professor Tan Yock Lin, 70, a senior National University of Singapore law professor, was taken to hospital and died later that day.
Despite this, Natarajan, 28, continued to drive another lorry on two separate occasions in 2024 after his licence was revoked.
The Indian national was sentenced to two years and a month in jail, and a fine of $2,000 on Aug 29, 2025.
He had pleaded guilty to several charges, including causing another person’s death while driving a vehicle without due care.
He was also prohibited from driving any motor vehicle in Singapore for life.
On July 7, 2023, Natarajan was driving a lorry along Upper Thomson Road when he looked at his mobile phone that was placed in a holder on the front windscreen and failed to notice that the vehicle was veering right towards a centre divider.
“The lorry mounted the kerb of the centre divider, smashed through the green metal railings, and uprooted two trees before emerging onto the opposite (side) of the road, directly against the flow of oncoming traffic and in its path,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Sunil Nair.
The lorry struck Prof Tan’s car, causing the car to spin and hit the front of a nearby van, which veered to the left.
The van then hit the side of a bus, the court heard.
Prof Tan, who suffered fractures to his skull, was trapped inside his severely damaged car and Singapore Civil Defence Force officers took about an hour to get him out.
He was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and died of multiple injuries shortly before noon that day.
The driver of the van, a 28-year-old man, suffered injuries including fractured ribs.
The road was closed for almost three hours to get Prof Tan out of the car, remove the damaged vehicles and clear the debris, DPP Nair said.
Court documents revealed that Natarajan re-offended after this fatal accident and continued driving on two separate occasions in 2024 even though his licence had already been revoked by then.
On the first occasion on Jan 3, 2024, he drove another man’s lorry with the latter’s permission and a traffic police officer later stopped him as he was not wearing a seatbelt.
Without the owner’s permission, Natarajan drove the same lorry in May that year before a traffic police officer stopped him.
On Aug 29, defence lawyer Sarbrinder Singh from Sanders Law urged the court to sentence his client to 16 months’ jail and a fine of $2,000.
Stressing that Natarajan was driving within the speed limit before the 2023 fatal crash, Mr Singh added: “While extremely unfortunate, the accident was the result of a momentary lapse of judgment and there is no evidence that the accused had been driving in a careless manner for a prolonged period of time.”
The lawyer also said that his client, who has since lost his job, is remorseful and had fully cooperated with the authorities in their investigation.
