Police Van & Lorry Crash at Jurong Left 17 Injured; 5 Were Police Officers

It seems that the poor lorries just can’t take a break.

According to The Straits Times, yet another grievous lorry-related incident has occurred;

And this time, even actual police officers are in the mix.

Police Van & Lorry Crash at Jurong Left 17 Injured; 5 Were Police Officers

According to the news report, a police van and a lorry were reportedly involved in an accident on Friday (7 May 2021).

It’s said to have occurred at the junction of Jalan Buroh and Jurong Port Road, with a distress call sent out at 9:02 p.m.

A grand total of 17 men, including a lorry driver and five men in blue, suffered injuries from the accident.

They were all conveyed to the National University Hospital.

In a video that’s circulating on social media, the left side of the police van could be found in a dented state.

The lorry’s windscreen was also viciously shattered, with shards strewn across the road.

Police investigations are currently ongoing.

Recent Spate Of Lorry-related Incidents

Just recently, 10 men had to be sent to the hospital after a lorry-related accident occurred along Upper Bukit Timah Road.

Nine of the ten men were foreign workers.

And four days before that, another lorry had the misfortune of crashing into a stationary tipper truck on the Pan-Island Expressway.

17 migrant workers were caught up in the vehicle-type scuffle, with two succumbing to their injuries.

The lorry driver was apprehended for careless driving causing death.

And in another separate incident, a bus captain was recently sentenced to 2 weeks’ jail for negligence on the job, which led to numerous passengers getting injured.

According to the news report, Gwee Kim Han, 48, had been piloting ply bus service 143 at around 3:00 a.m. on 16 March 2018 when he reportedly felt fatigued.

He eventually fell asleep.

When he woke up, the bus was heading straight for a stationary lorry parked on the extreme left lane.

The bus ended up crashing into the lorry, causing several individuals who were getting onto the latter to get flung off.

According to the news report, those in the driver’s and passenger seats were also wounded.

Four victims, in particular, were said to suffer fractures, with two sustaining long-standing complications.

So really, one can only fathom the immensely bad luck that’s befalling lorries nowadays.

New Measures

In the wake of the incidents, both migrant worker advocacy groups and members of the public have called for the improvement of safety regulations for foreign workers.

A spokesperson for Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (Home) said: “It is common sense that travelling in the back of a cargo lorry exposes passengers to greater risk of more severe injury in motor accidents.

“Given that strict road safety rules apply to all other road users, the fact that migrant workers are transported like cargo is inhumane and shameful,” she said.

They have also called for the implementation of seat belts for the workers, and the need to address errant issues such as drivers’ fatigue.

Suggestions that workers should be transported via bus or van instead have also been made.

Featured Image: Facebook (Singapore roads accident.com新加坡公路意外网页 , Thelocalsociety)