SINGAPORE: A lorry driver was fined S$3,000 (US$2,200) on Tuesday (Dec 3) for hitting a pedestrian link bridge in Chinatown with the vehicle, which was carrying a crane.
Sun Qiang, 47, was also banned from driving heavy vehicles for six months.
He pleaded guilty to a charge under the Road Traffic Act, with another taken into consideration for sentencing.
The court heard that on Mar 13 at about 11.10am, Sun was driving the lorry along Eu Tong Sen Street in Chinatown.
The lorry was carrying a crane, which Sun forgot to fully retract before moving off. This meant the overall height of the lorry exceeded 4.5m.
It knocked into the link bridge between People’s Park Complex and Lucky Chinatown.
There were graze marks on the underside of the bridge and paint was scraped off. In the process, the crane also became dislodged.
The damage was valued at S$3,000, a police prosecutor said.
Photos showed the lorry slightly tilted to one side and shattered glass lying on the road. According to Sun’s lawyer, the glass was from materials that were on the lorry.
Sun was previously fined S$600 for speeding in 2021 and also has a compounded offence of driving while using a mobile phone in 2023.
The prosecutor asked for a S$3,000 fine and a ban of six months to a year for driving with Class 4, 4A and 5 driving licences, which are for heavy vehicles.
He said that while the damage to the bridge was minimal, Sun’s actions put other road users in danger.
The accident happened on a busy road near peak hour and it was fortunate no one was injured, said the prosecutor.
Sun’s defence lawyer asked for a fine of S$2,000 and a driving ban of four to six months, emphasising that the damage from the accident was not substantial and no one was injured.
The punishment for driving a heavy vehicle and causing it to collide into a building or structure is a jail term of up to two years, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.
