Ex-judge fined, banned from driving for 7 months for traffic offences
A former district judge has been fined $2,700 and disqualified from driving for seven months over traffic offences he committed in 2019.
Wong Keen Onn, 63, pleaded guilty last Friday to one count of reckless driving and one count of breaching a traffic signal.
Both offences were committed on Aug 2, about a month before he retired, as Wong was driving along the East Coast Parkway towards the Ayer Rajah Expressway, near the start of the Benjamin Sheares Bridge.
Court documents state that Wong and another driver, whose car was in front of Wong's vehicle, began switching to a lane on the left at the same time.
While the other car was partly in the next lane, Wong accelerated and drove around the car's left side to overtake it. This caused the rear right side of Wong's car to collide with the front left side of the other car.
But Wong continued driving and eventually made two right turns into Bayfront Avenue, with the other vehicle following his car. He later stopped at the junction of Bayfront Avenue and Raffles Avenue, where the traffic light signal had turned red.
Seeing an opportunity to speak to Wong about the collision, the other driver alighted from his vehicle and walked towards Wong's car from the rear. Before the man could reach him, Wong turned left into Raffles Avenue even though the traffic light signal was still red and drove away.
For driving recklessly, Wong could have been jailed for up to 12 months, or fined up to $5,000, or both. He could also have been jailed for up to three months, or fined up to $1,000, or both, for failing to conform to the traffic signal.
This article first appeared in The Straits Times.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
