SINGAPORE — A 42-year old driver was charged in court on Thursday (April 25) over a multi-vehicle accident in Tampines on Monday that claimed two lives.
Muhammad Syafie Ismail faces four charges under the Road Traffic Act. They are:
- Dangerous driving causing death
- Dangerous driving causing hurt
- Dangerous driving, and
- Failing to stop after an accident
TODAY understands that Syafie was driving a black Saab that was caught on dashcam footage speeding and sideswiping a white car before a junction on Monday.
Syafie was arrested on Wednesday after his discharge from hospital.
The police said on Wednesday that his driving licence had also been suspended and investigations are ongoing for other possible offences.
If found guilty of dangerous driving causing death, Syafie could be jailed for up to eight years, with a minimum sentence of two years, and face disqualification from driving all classes of vehicles.
Those found guilty of dangerous driving causing hurt can be jailed for up to two years, or fined up to S$10,000, or both and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles.
Anyone convicted of dangerous driving can be jailed for up to 12 months, face a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.
For failing to stop after an accident, Syafie could be jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$1,000, or receive both punishments.
WHAT HAPPENED
At around 7am on Monday, an accident involving six vehicles occurred at the junction of Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Avenue 4.
The police said that they were alerted to the crash, which involved four cars, a van and a minibus, at about 7.05am.
The accident resulted in two deaths — that of 17-year-old Temasek Junior College student Afifah Munirah Muhammad Azril, and 57-year-old Norzihan Juwahib, who worked at pest control firm First Choice Pest Specialist.
Six others were taken to hospital. Three male car drivers between the ages of 42 and 48, including Syafie, were conveyed conscious to the hospital.
A 64-year-old male van driver, an 11-year-old male car passenger and 11-year-old minibus passenger were also conveyed conscious to the hospital, while a 39-year-old male van passenger and 42-year-old female car driver sought medical attention on their own.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said on Monday that its personnel had found a person lying on the road with one leg trapped under the wheel of a car upon arrival, and hydraulic rescue equipment was used to free the person’s leg.
A video posted on the Singapore Road Vigilante Facebook page, allegedly taken moments before the accident, shows a black car speeding through the morning traffic.
The dashboard camera footage depicted the car swerving in and out of a two-way lane to overtake a white car on the left lane without signalling.
The man who posted the video, Mr Anthony Soon, who is a senior adviser at car repair and maintenance firm Success United, has filed a police report after receiving death threats against him and his family for posting the dashboard camera footage.
Mr Soon said that online users had mistaken him for the driver of a white Mercedes-Benz, which appears to have been sideswiped by Syafie’s black Saab.
He told TODAY on Wednesday that he was not the driver of the Mercedes-Benz but had posted the footage on the Facebook page on behalf of the driver who did not have a social media account.
Other videos circulating on social media show the black Saab later beating a red light and crashing into other vehicles — one of which was Afifah’s father’s car.
Both Afifah and Norzihan were buried on Tuesday at the Pusara Aman Muslim cemetery.
More than 100 family and friends gathered to bid their final farewell to the Temasek Junior College student. Family members told TODAY that her father, Mr Azril, was under observation with kidney and spine related injuries, and was conscious in the hospital.
