BMW rams into man walking on pavement in Little India
Victim taken to hospital with head and neck injuries as police arrest male driver, 34, for drink driving
A black BMW mounted a pavement in Little India and hit two pedestrians before colliding into a lamp post on Tuesday.
Closed-circuit TV footage from a mobile phone shop shows the car slamming into a man from the back and sideswiping another man, who stumbles and falls inside the shop. He was unhurt.
The accident occurred near the junction of Serangoon Road and Rowell Road at about 5.10pm.
The police said they arrested a 34-year-old man for drink driving and are investigating.
A check on the licence plate shows the car has two outstanding fines totalling $270 from September and this month.
Bystanders tended to the injured pedestrian, Mr Rajamani Lakshmanan, 39, before an ambulance took him to Raffles Hospital.
Recalling his brush with death to The New Paper yesterday, the Indian national, who works in IT, said: "I was walking along the row of shops when the car suddenly hit me from behind and sent me flying. I don't remember much else because I blacked out.
"When I woke up, I was being taken to the hospital."
Mr Rajamani, who is still warded, said he needed stitches on his head and has an injured neck and broken left hand. His legs were also hurting.
The married father of a nine-year-old girl in India said he is still undergoing medical scans and is unsure when he can return to work.
Mr Syed Thurabuddin, 32, who works at Sangam Mobiles, where the crash occurred, said its security camera footage had been given to the police.
After the driver got out of the car, he bought several bottles of water from a nearby shop and guzzled as much as he could before the police arrived, Mr Thurabuddin added.
"There have been similar accidents in this area in the past year, and I am now paranoid that it will happen again," he said.
Mr Rajakumar Chandra, senior adviser to the Little India Shopkeepers and Heritage Association, said he was shocked by what he saw on the video.
He said the association had discussed with the authorities about putting barricades on both sides of the road but then decided just one on the other side of Serangoon Road was enough.
"Before the pandemic, foreign workers would throng the area and spill onto the road, so we didn't want to add to the congestion by putting up more barricades," he said.
"After this incident, I think we will have to relook this."
In response to TNP's queries, the Land Transport Authority said it will work with the relevant agencies and community stakeholders to assess potential safety enhancements for the area.
First-time drink-driving offenders can be fined up to $10,000 and/or jailed for up to a year. The maximum penalty is doubled for repeat offenders.
With the exception of special reasons deemed by the court, offenders will be disqualified from driving for two years for first offence, five years for second and life for third.
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