Cop: Driver was high on drugs

BUKIT MERTAJAM: The 19-year-old part-time model, who drove against oncoming traffic before crashing her car into four vehicles and a motorcycle, killing a motorist, was hallucinating when she claimed to have seen a lorry that caused her to make a sudden U-turn before the Sungai Dua toll plaza.

OCPD Asst Comm Nik Ros Azhan Nik Abdul Hamid said they had viewed the CCTV footage from the toll plaza and there was no lorry in front of her car as alleged.

“She could have been hallucinating as her blood test came back positive for amphetamine and not methamphetamine. We are still waiting for her blood alcohol reading.

“The U-turn she made caused her to drive against traffic. Her car grazed three vehicles from KM128 to KM134 of the North-South Expressway in the fast lane before crashing,” he told a press conference yesterday.

ACP Nik Ros Azhan said investigations revealed the teenager was out with her friends in Bukit Mertajam the night before the incident, and on her way home before the incident.

“We are trying to determine where she obtained the amphetamine and whether she was involved in any other drug activity. She has no past criminal record.”

He added that police received seven police reports, four from Central Seberang Perai and three from North Seberang Perai, following the accident.

“We’ve questioned four victims and four witnesses. We are investigating under Section 44 of the Road Transport Act for driving under the influence of drugs and causing the death of or injury to any person.”

At the Bukit Mertajam magistrate’s court, police obtained a four-day remand order until March 18 for the driver from magistrate Dianne Ningrad Nor Azahar.

A video screen grab of her car going against the traffic on the North-South Expressway.

The teenager appeared calm and composed when she was brought to the court lock-up.

There was no one in the house when The Star visited her home in Sungai Dua.

A neighbour, who declined to be named, said he came to know of the accident via WhatsApp.

“I could not believe that it was her car until I saw the pictures at the scene of the accident.

“She is a quiet person and her family has been staying in the neighbourhood for more than 30 years,” he said.

Video clips of the car driving against the traffic went viral on social media.

Meanwhile, the family of Mohamad Fandi Rosli, 26, who was killed in the accident, is planning to sue the driver.

His father Rosli Lin, 57, when met at home in Taman Sri Pinang, Sungai Petani, said the decision to take legal action was jointly agreed by all family members.

“The driver has to be responsible for her act. What happened was fated but justice must be served.”

It was reported yesterday that the teenager drove her vehicle against traffic on the three-lane expressway.

It first collided with a car, killing its driver Mohamad Fandi at 7.50am. The impact of the crash caused her car to hit a 27-year-old motorcyclist. The vehicle then spun out of control and hit two other cars and a van before coming to a halt.

The motorcyclist and the other drivers, aged between 31 and 59, were not seriously injured. They were given outpatient treatment at the Seberang Jaya Hospital.