A Swiss national, Christian Joachim Pollmann, 45-years-old, was awarded over $13.6 million in damages by the High Court after suffering traumatic brain injuries.

It is reportedly the record sum for personal injury claims in Singapore.

Pollman was the executive director of Julius Baer, a Swiss bank; he was cycling along Brickland Road in Bukit Batok when a car driven by Ye Xianrong, 36-years-old, crashed into him from behind.

Ye was checking his blind spot for traffic before filtering into another lane but he failed to keep a lookout ahead of him and got too close to Pollman.

He realised they were about to crash and jammed his brakes but it was already too late.

Pollman then spent 6 months in the hospital after being thrown off his bicycle, sustaining serious head injuries.

In 2016, Ye then pleaded guilty to causing grievous hurt to Pollman by a negligent act that endangers human life. He was fined $5,000 and banned for 3 years from driving.

In 2017, Ye was found by the High Court to be fully liable for Pollman’s injuries in a negligence suit filed against him; On 26 April 2021, Justice Vinodh Coomaraswamy then awarded Pollman, under loss of future income, an amount of more than $9.3 million.

Other damages included an amount of $1.09 million of future recurring medical expenses, and $1.54 million of pre-trial earnings.

Interim payments to Pollman totalling $3.1 million have been paid to him so far, with the damages being borne by Ye’s insurers.

Pollman reportedly cannot handle more than one task or person at a time, as well as having difficulties doing manual work and remember instructions due to his disabilities.

He also needs botox treatment twice a year to treat a facial nerve injury, which causes his right eye to close involuntarily when he bites or smiles.

The facial reconstruction operations to correct his facial asymmetry including a tissue transfer, fat grafting and face tightening.

The judge believed that Pollman would have been promoted to managing director senior adviser last yet had the accident not happened.

At the time of writing, both sets of lawyers are studying the judgment.

Image source: sharetransport.sg

The LTA said on 30 April that all e-scooter and e-bicycle users must take a theory test that is mandatory, from 30 June onwards, before being allowed to use their devices.

The test will be made available online and it reportedly consists of MCQ questions.

LTA announced that they have already put out e-guidebooks for the respective “vehicles” to help them learn how to safely operate the devices, as well as the code of conduct.

They are available online for free.

At the time of writing, no details on how riders can take the theory tests are available yet, although it will be announced in due time.

It will be illegal for them to ride on the roads if they do not pass the test.

The requirement was introduced in April 2021 after amendments to the Road Traffic act for users of electric bicycles were proposed by authorities.

Images source: ebiketips.com and Carousell (Images used for illustration purposes only)

A 22-year-old Malaysian woman who works as a Spa Therapist at Spa 9, at 41 Holland Drive, tested positive for Covid-19 on 29 April.

She developed a runny nose on 28 April and went to a GP to seek medical treatment, and she was then tested for Covid-19.

Her test result then returned positive the next day.

Images source: Spa 9 on Facebook

An 88-year-old woman warded at Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Ward 9D, has passed away from Covid-19 complications yesterday (1 MAy).

She was awarded from 14 April and confirmed to be infected on 28 April.

The woman has a history of cancer, hypertension, congestive cardiac failure, stroke and hyperlipidemia.

The NCID has since reached out and extended assistance to the woman’s family.

She is the 31st person to die from Covid-19 complications in Singapore.

Image source: Tan Tock Seng Hospital Facebook

A Singapore PR, May Moe Kyi, 22-years-old, was charged in court on 29 April for leaving her home without a reasonable purpose to meet a man (who is not living in the same household) multiple times during last year’s Circuit Breaker.

She is facing 20 charges under the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020.

The meetings between the two, May and a man, Ferris Frederick Francis, allegedly occurred between 7 April 2020 and 26 April 2020.

8 of those meetings occurred at the staircase, as well as the area outside a block of flats, to “exercise”.

The two allegedly did “jumping jacks, lunges and cardiovascular activities”.

The other 2 meetings involved them watching movies and “playing games” when May went over to visit Francis.

The woman is due to return to court on 27 May.

Image source: @allsgstuff on Twitter