Driver jailed a week for causing woman’s death
A van driver has been jailed for a week and banned from driving for five years for causing the death of a pedestrian in Marsiling.
Though he had right of way, Mohamed Saleh Ahmad, 57, failed to keep a proper lookout when turning left at a signalised T-junction from Marsiling Road into Marsiling Drive at about 7am on July 12 last year.
He then hit Ms Melor Yusof, 60, who was using the pedestrian crossing.
Saleh pleaded guilty on Tuesday to causing death by a negligent act.
According to a medical report, Ms Melor was drowsy as she lay in the middle of the road before a passer-by later moved her to the side.
She was taken to the hospital, where she was found to have no pulse. She died at about 8.10am.
An autopsy found the cause of death was multiple injuries consistent with those sustained in a traffic accident.
There was no report of traffic light malfunction and a mechanical inspection of the van found no abnormalities.
There were no cameras or witnesses, but Deputy Public Prosecutor Bjorn Tan accepted Saleh's claim that the traffic light was in his favour and the pedestrian light was red.
But he told District Judge Sarah Tan that Saleh should have stopped as he would have been able to see Ms Melor, and the dent on the van showed the impact of the collision was hard. "One does not run over someone simply because you have the right of way," DPP Tan said.
The five-year driving ban covers all classes of vehicles.
In mitigation, defence counsel Selvarajan Balamurugan said Saleh was genuinely apologetic for the tragic consequence of the accident.
He said Saleh was the one who called the police and had waited at the scene. He helped the victim though there were no witnesses.
There was no evidence Saleh was speeding, drink-driving, sleepy or using a mobile phone when the accident occurred, he argued.
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