The 42-year-old man was arrested on April 24 for dangerous driving causing death.- KUA CHEE SIONG, LIANHE ZAOBAO
SINGAPORE: A car driver allegedly involved in a fatal six-vehicle crash in Tampines on April 22 has been arrested for dangerous driving causing death.
The 42-year-old man was arrested on April 24 after he was discharged from hospital, the police said.
His driving licence has also been suspended with immediate effect.
Police investigations are ongoing.
The accident occurred at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Avenue 4 and involved four cars, a van and a mini bus, and the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force were alerted at about 7.05am.
The accident killed Norzihan Juwahib, 57, and Afifah Munirah Muhammad Azril, 17, who were both buried in Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery on April 23.
Norzihan was a passenger in a van and was on her way to work when the collision happened. The right side of the van she was in was badly dented after the accident.
Afifah, a first-year student at Temasek Junior College, was a car passenger on her way to a school event.
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Her father, Muhammad Azril, a Police Coast Guard officer, was driving their car when the impact from the collision caused it to turn turtle with its doors flung open.
He suffered kidney- and spine-related injuries and is still in hospital.
Five other people, including two 11-year-old boys, were also taken to hospital.
Minister for Home Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam and Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean took to Facebook on April 23 to offer condolences to the victims’ families.
Shanmugam said it was heartbreaking that the accident had cut down two lives “just like that”.
“When we drive – we hold the lives of other road users in our hands,” he added.
Traffic accidents claimed the lives of 136 people in 2023, a 25.9 per cent jump from the 108 deaths in 2022, according to the Traffic Police’s (TP) annual statistics report released on Feb 20.
The TP said in a statement that there was a significant increase in the number of accidents where the cause was failure on the part of the motorist to keep a proper lookout, failure to have proper control of the vehicle, or changing of lanes without due care.
It added: “The traffic statistics show that there are many motorists who have irresponsible driving behaviours.”
To tackle this, the TP will be increasing the composition sums and demerit points for certain traffic offences.
TP commander and Senior Assistant Commissioner (SAC) of Police Daniel Tan said: “We are naturally concerned with the increase in road fatalities over the past two years.
“(Thus), TP is going to enhance our enforcement methods. We will be rolling out the speed enforcement function in our red-light cameras, starting from next quarter. We will come down hard on road users who blatantly disregard the law.” - The Straits Times/ANN
