It’s one thing to say your dog ate your homework or that you’ve caught a stomach bug to get out of school or work; it’s another to claim that you ran over a soda bottle when you’ve actually run over a person.
But yet, here we are.
Driver Who Ran Over Man Thought He Ran Over a ‘Soda Bottle’ Instead
On 13 August 2019 at 1:23pm, a tow truck driver, 52-year-old Jiang JianTing (江建廷), drove his tow truck on the slip road from Tampines Industrial Ave 3 to Tampines Ave 10 when he allegedly ran over an 82-year-old man on his bicycle, Bai ShengYe (白盛業), while the man was using the zebra crossing to cross the road.
He was charged with causing death by negligent driving.
According to the driver, he denied driving away after knocking the old man over when he was charged in court.
He claimed that he didn’t see anyone being knocked over.
And despite dragging part of the crushed bicycle of the deceased for several kilometers, the driver merely thought he ran over a soda bottle.
An Untimely Death
As reported by LianHe WanBao《联合晚报》, the deceased was just about to celebrate his 82nd birthday before meeting his untimely death.
Although Mr Bai was old, he was physically strong and healthy.
This is evident as he was cycling to go back home after having lunch outside at the time of the incident.
Unfortunately, he was severely injured after being hit by the tow truck.
He died at the hospital.
Mr Bai’s family thought it was a car that had done the hit-and-run, but from the CCTV recordings examined, the police found out that it was a tow truck that had done the deed instead.
They arrested the driver that very afternoon.
After hearing the case, the judge sentenced the driver to 3 weeks in jail.
His driving license was also revoked for 5 years.
Family members of the deceased found it difficult to accept the verdict.
According to the deceased’s daughter-in-law, “My nephew and niece went to the court to hear the verdict yesterday, and we still couldn’t accept it.”
She added that the whole family missed the deceased greatly for the past two years and has always wanted to get justice for him.
“Whenever I pass that stretch of road where he died, I couldn’t help but cry. Even now, the incident is very emotional for us.”
The Driver Didn’t Pay Attention to Pedestrians While on the Road
The defendant’s lawyer argued that the tow truck has a large body and that the driver was focusing on the vehicles on his right.
The deceased and his bicycle were located in the blind spot on the left.
Plus, the driver claimed that he didn’t see or feel the collision at all.
In fact, he didn’t know anything was wrong until the traffic police knocked on his door.
That said, the prosecutor refuted the argument, stating that drivers need to pay attention to not only the vehicles on the road, but also to the people nearby, regardless of how “big” the body of the vehicle is.
The judge agreed with the prosecutor.
He added that there was a zebra crossing at the scene and it is a drivers’ job to pay attention to pedestrians.
This is especially true for drivers of heavy vehicles.
Featured Image: Google Maps
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