A fatal accident between a car and a bus took place at a traffic junction in Woodlands last year (1 September 2022) and killed two people, including the car driver and a passenger in the bus.
During the coroner’s inquiry yesterday (16 March), it was found that the driver, Muhammad Hadi Sazali had a history of seizures and ignored medical advice not to drive.
According to the police’s investigation, the 32-year-old driver was driving his car to his workplace on the day of the incident.
He stopped at a red light at about 6.08am, at the junction of Woodlands Avenue 9 and Woodlands Avenue 6.
But he later beat the red light, driving forward towards Woodlands Avenue 4 and accelerating as he approached the next junction, before crashing into a bus that was waiting to turn into Woodlands Avenue 9.
A speed analysis was done by HSA, who found that Hasi had accelerated from 0km/h to 105km/hr over a distance of 200 metres, before speeding up to 127km/h before crashing into the bus.
He was pronounced dead at the scene after being found in the driver’s seat with blood oozing from his mouth.
A passenger who was inside the bus at the time, 53-year-old Sariah Bakri, was found lying motionless on the road beside the bus after the crash, and died in hospital later that same morning.
Coroner Sharmila Sripathy said in court that Hadi had a history of seizures because of epilepsy and had driven despite medical advice not to.
An open verdict was ultimately recorded on his death because they couldn’t find clear evidence on why he was speeding and beating 2 red lights.
Recap
A traffic accident took place on 1 September 2022 at the junction of Woodlands Avenue 4 and Avenue 9 between a car and a Tower Transit bus that left 2 persons dead and 8 others injured.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said that they received a call for help at about 6.10am at the traffic junction.
One of the victims was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic, and the 9 other victims were sent to the hospital.
Of the 9 injured victims, 2 of them were seriously injured and conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, with one of them later dying in the hospital.
According to Lianhe Zaobao, the bus was turning right at the junction at the time when it collided with the car that was driving straight.
The car had crashed into the middle of the bus and ended up crushing the front of the vehicle (the car), the driver of the car was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two blue tents were seen at the scene.