The court heard the accident case involving Malaysia-registered bus which was taking passengers to Singapore in February was skid and crash into the guardrail near Tuas Checkpoint. It killed a female passenger and caused grievous hurt to two other passengers. On Friday, November 8 the bus driver was sentenced to 10 weeks of jail term. He also faced a ban from driving for five years after his release from prison.
During the court hearing, while Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei asked for 10 weeks' jail, the accused, Kalaimani Muniandy who was not represented by a lawyer, said in his defence that he had been driving for 30 years and had a clean record. However, the 60-year-old bus driver pleaded guilty in the State Court to one charge of causing death by a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, by failing to keep proper control of his bus. It should be noted that one charge each of causing grievous hurt by a negligent act and causing hurt by a negligent act was considered during sentencing.
In February, the convict drove along the Causeway at about 65 km/h. As per the DPP Tan, Kalaimani continued driving at a fast speed whilst driving up the ramp towards the arrival hall of Tuas Checkpoint which is a single lane road. But instead of slowing down, the accused continued driving at this speed. It destabilised the bus, which skid and then collided into the right guardrail of the ramp.
As per the CCTV footage which captured the accident, the bus passengers were flung from the bus and over the ramp, falling about three stories onto a grassy patch under the ramp. This caused serious head injuries as well as rib and spinal fractures to a 35-year-old female Malaysian citizen, Mok Fei Chen, who was pronounced dead on the spot.
There were two other passengers who suffered from serious injuries and taken to National University Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. Other injured passengers were also admitted in the hospitals for further treatment. The bus driver had multiple broken bones and was in the hospital for two weeks.
