A Singaporean woman died after her car collided with an SMRT bus at a traffic junction in Bukit Timah early on Sunday morning. This is the second accident in two days that took place in the same area.
Apart from the 23-year-old deceased, two other passengers of the black Mercedes, including the woman driver, 24, suffered injuries in the accident.
The local police said that they came to know about the accident, which involved a bus and the car at the junction of Jalan Anak Bukit and Jalan Jurong Kechil on Sunday at around 1 am. The officers said that a 24-year-old woman, who was driving the black car and a passenger, a 26-year-old man were found conscious and taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, located at 1 Jurong East Street 21, which is almost 10 to 12 minutes away from the accident spot.
When the deceased was found unconscious by the officials, they took her to the National University Hospital, located at 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road, where she failed to survive due to her injuries. Reports stated that she was sitting in the rear, while the male passenger was sitting in the front seat.
The accident happened when the black car was making a right turn from Jalan Anak Bukit to take the Pan-Island Expressway. The bus was off service at the time of the incident and was going straight towards Clementi Road through Jalan Anak Bukit. Suddenly the car collided with the bus at the junction. However, reports said that the driver of the bus was not injured.
The images after the accident showed the bus with its badly smashed windscreen, including glass shards strewn across the road. The pictures also showed the black Mercedes with a dent in its passenger's door.
The investigation is still on.
Meanwhile, Margaret Teo, SMRT vice-president for corporate communications said that they were saddened that such accident took place and the authority will contact the family of the deceased's family to provide their support. She said that the company will be cooperating with the police during the investigation.
Teo also said that the driver of the bus has been reassigned to non-driving duties, as he has to assist the police in their investigation process.
This is the second accident on Sunday that took place in Bukit Timah as a 49-year-old electronic scooter rider was injured in an accident that involved another white vehicle at the junction of Jalan Anak Bukit and Jalan Jurong Kechi.
Even on Thursday, April 19, another accident at the junction of Clementi Road and Commonwealth Avenue West saw a 19-year-old undergraduate of National University of Singapore, Kathy Ong died.
Considering recent fatal accidents in a training manager at the Singapore Safety Driving Centre, Gerard Pereira told the media that usually all the back seat passengers are preoccupied with their mobile phones or chatting, so it is the driver's responsibility to advise them to put on the seat belts while settling down inside a car. He also added that at such junctions slowing down the vehicle's speed will also help to respond to emergencies.
