45-year-old Indian national Sowrirajulu Karunakaran pleaded guilty to one charge of drink driving and another charge of driving without reasonable consideration and causing grievous hurt and was sentenced to 10 months imprisonment and banned from driving for 14 years after his release.
He had driven a cement mixer while drunk in May last year and fell asleep at the wheel, causing a chain accident that resulted in several people being injured, including a victim who suffered pelvic fractures.
Sowrirajulu was an employee of Infinite Logistics and Trading at the time, and on 18 May 2022, he was drinking alcohol at about 3 pm.
At about 7.20 pm, Sowrirajulu was driving a cement mixer along Yishun Avenue 8 when he then fell asleep at the wheel.
The weather was clear at the time and the surface of the road was dry, with the traffic volume also being moderate.
Sowrirajulu, who was sleeping at the wheel, then woke up and realised that the upcoming traffic light was red and jammed the brake, but couldn’t stop the cement mixer in time.
He then crashed into the back of a lorry in front, resulting in a chain collision, with the lottery going on to hit another vehicle in front and so on and so forth, with a total of 4 vehicles being involved in the chain collision.
The lorry suffered multiple severe dents, as well as scratches and a shattered windscreen; while the cement mixer was dented and damaged at the front.
Sowrirajulu was then conveyed to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital where his blood ethanol concentration levels were found to be thrice the legal limit.
Two passengers of the stricken lorry, who were also Indian nationals, were also brought to the same hospital for treatment.
One of them, a 38-year-old man suffered fractures to his pelvis, as well as pain in his lower and middle back, and was hospitalised for 3 days.
The other man, a 41-year-old, suffered lacerations on his forehead and a neck strain, and was discharged from the hospital on the same day and given 10 days of hospitalisation leave.
The lorry also had to be disposed of by the company that owned it because of the extensive damage done to it from the accident.
Another 44-year-old Singaporean woman who was driving a van that was hit by the lorry in the chain collision was brought to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital with a minor head injury.
The back of her van was dented and the repairs cost $31,290.03, and a third vehicle (a Toyota) also suffered damage to its rear and its repairs cost $17,762.