SINGAPORE: The driver of a van was speeding, travelling at up to 107kmh, when it struck a jaywalker who was crossing a road at a traffic light, killing him.
The speed limit in the area was 60kmh, and on Monday (June 8), Tan Kwee Teck, 69, pleaded guilty to causing the death of Wong Chee Wai, 54, by driving in a dangerous manner.
Before his death, Wong had his earpieces on while crossing the road against the red man signal, unaware that Tan’s van was coming towards him at high speed.
Without revealing details, Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephen Yeo told the court that Tan has a history of committing other traffic offences and had paid a composition fine of S$380 in February 2022 for failing to obey a red light signal.
In May 2023, he paid another composition fine of $200 for speeding.
For the current case, the court heard that shortly before the fatal crash, he was driving the van along Woodlands Road towards Upper Bukit Timah Road after 6pm on Nov 15, 2024.
The prosecutor said: “As he drove along Woodlands Road during rush hour, he executed several dangerous manoeuvres, including weaving in and out of traffic and lane splitting.
“He also drove his van at significant speeds on a road with a prescribed speed limit of 60kmh... At its highest, his estimated speed was between 103kmh (and) 107kmh.”
Tan later approached some traffic lights that were showing green in his favour.
Wong started crossing the road at around the same time, and Tan failed to notice him at first.
He spotted the younger man only as he drew closer, and the van struck the latter, who was flung for “some distance”.
According to court documents, the van had gone over the speed limit for a distance of at least 200m.
The Health Sciences Authority conducted a speed estimation analysis of the vehicle and found that it was going at between 62kmh and 75kmh just before it struck Wong.
He was conscious when he was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and was later found with multiple fractures and a severe traumatic brain injury.
He died of multiple organ failure eight days later on Nov 23, 2024.
Tan was later arrested in November 2025.
On June 8, the prosecutor urged the court to sentence Tan to up to 3½ years’ jail.
He added: “Although the victim was jaywalking and the accused had the right of way, the accused was driving at a speed that simply gave him no chance to react to the victim being on the road.
“The accused’s cavalier disregard for road safety led to an entirely avoidable traffic incident and the loss of a life.”
Defence lawyer Chia Boon Teck, however, asked the court to sentence his client to around two years’ jail, stressing that Wong had been jaywalking.
He also said that Tan’s wife has terminal cancer with only months to live.
Chia said that his client is “angry with himself” for committing the offence, as he might be seeing his spouse for the last time before he begins serving his sentence.
Tan will be sentenced on June 30. - The Straits Times/ANN
