Man Jailed For Killing Friend In Lorry Collision Then Escaping In Brother’s Car

When you’re in a dire situation your body naturally snaps to fight or flight mode.

It’s a response triggered by the release of hormones that prepares your body to either stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety.

In this man’s case, he chose to flee.

Man Jailed For Killing Friend In Lorry Collision Then Escaping In Brother’s Car

A man was driving a lorry at speeds of up to 144km/h when he fell asleep while driving and crashed into another lorry.

Upon waking up, Andy Cheong Chin Chye, 30, saw Mr Tee Tech Eng, 29, his friend of 15 years hanging out of the front windscreen.

Cheong’s older brother was driving in a car behind them, and so he stopped and tried to help by calling the police.

However, Cheong decided it would be a good idea to steal his brother’s car and run away from the scene of the accident.

He pled guilty and for his actions, he was jailed for 11 months and six weeks for one count of causing death by dangerous driving and two counts of failing to stop in the case of an accident.

Another charge of taking his brother’s car without consent was also taken into consideration.

The Accident

It was around 8pm on 14 December 2018 when Cheong and Mr Tee had dinner and drinks at a coffee shop near Pioneer Road North.

Cheong drank two cups of beer.

Mr Tee decided to hitch a ride with Cheong who offered to drive him home in his lorry.

I’m sure you know where this story goes.

At around 11.35pm at a slight bend on the Ayer Rajan Expressway, Cheong’s lorry swerved from lane 1 to lane 2 before colliding with another lorry.

As a result, both vehicles skidded left into guard railings and a traffic sign. The impact caused Mr Tee to be thrown forward and he crashed into the windscreen.

That was when Cheong ran away. He only returned to the scene at around 3.30am after his family members persuaded him too.

Mr Tee was rushed to the hospital, however, he died from a head injury at around 5.30am.

Cheong is currently out on a $15,000 bail.

For causing his friend’s death by dangerous driving Cheong could have been jailed for up to five years.

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