10 Facts About The Horrific AYE Accident That Occurred Yesterday

By
Low Kay Hwa
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If there’s one takeaway from yesterday’s horrific AYE accident, here’s it: 马路如虎口.

Yesterday, a horrifying accident occurred in AYE near the Tuas Checkpoint. People in Singapore were sharing two videos, one of the crash and the other of the aftermath of the accident.

Here’re one of the videos, and viewer’s discretion is advised.

The other video, as it is too graphic, can’t be embedded. 

Here’re ten facts about the accident that we know so far.

What happened
Yesterday (19 December 2016) morning, at around 8:00 a.m., a silver Mercedes sped against the flow of traffic in AYE near the Tuas Checkpoint. It hit a car head-on and a motorbike after that, causing one death and four injuries.

The aftermath of the accident
The driver of the car that collided head-on with the Mercedes was pronounced dead at the scene. The wife of the driver was sent to the hospital, together with the motorcyclist and his pillion, and the Mercedes driver.

A bus that was going to Selangor was chipped by a car that was trying to sway from a head-on collision, and the passengers, all uninjured, boarded another bus that came soon after.

How it happened
According to The Straits Times, the Mercedes entered a motorcycle lane in Tuas Checkpoint, then did an illegal U-turn. Judging from Google Maps, the Mercedes would have travelled about 1.6 km (or at least 1 km if he had made the turn earlier) on the AYE before the accident.

Who the Mercedes driver is
According to media reports, the driver is a 53-year-old driver who was in the car with his son. An eyewitness told The Straits Times that instead of being in shock, the driver was talking to himself and appeared angry.

He was then arrested for causing death by a rash act, which carries a maximum of five years’ jail and a fine.

Why had the Mercedes driver driven against the traffic
It has not been fully established, but the son of the driver, who was a passenger in the Mercedes, had said that his father was “depressed”. The Mercedes driver had allegedly shouted at his son when he tried to calm him down after the accident.

How the Mercedes driver made the U-turn
The Straits Times reported that the car had allegedly made a three-point turn into the opposite lane. Usually, a three-point turn will take time (at least one second or two seconds) to do so on a clear road, so it begs more questions on what really happened.

Why the Mercedes had managed to avoid so many cars for so long
Moving against the traffic for 1.6 km in an expressway isn’t just dangerous; it’s suicidal, with cars moving at 90 kmh. A video in Roads.sg Facebook Page showed that it was moving on the first lane that was relatively clear—at a speed so fast, you can only see it a while at 0.04 mark.

The victims involved
The driver of the car that collided head-on is 37-year-old Mr Jackie Liong Kuo Hwa, who is a media personality who has appeared in both TV commercials and TV shows. His wife, the motorcyclist and his pillion were all sent to National University Hospital after that. The Mercedes driver was also taken to the hospital.

Details of eyewitnesses
According to eyewitnesses, it was a fast and loud accident, with smoke and debris up in the air. After the accident, the engine of the Mercedes was on fire.

The car who collided head-on with the Mercedes had flipped to the side while the car that avoided the crash rammed into the expressway wall.

Questions raised
There’re many questions about this incident: firstly, the Mercedes driver was not alone, but with his son. Why hadn’t he done anything to stop this? Secondly, why had the Mercedes driver done the U-turn? Thirdly and most importantly, what made him sped at 120 kmh in the opposite direction?

Featured Image: straitstimes.com

This article was first published on Goodyfeed.com

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Low Kay Hwa
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