Mr Teo Seng Tiong, 59, the lorry driver who was involved in a collision with a cyclist two years ago, is set to serve jail-time after his appeals against the sentence and conviction were dismissed.
Teo had been found guilty after a trial of swerving suddenly into cyclist Eric Cheung Hoyu along Pasir Ris and subsequently sentenced to seven weeks jail, a fine of $500 and a driving ban of two years.
He was charged with one count of causing hurt by rash driving, and another charge of failing to make a police report within 24 hours of the accident.
Teo’s lawyer, Mr Tan Hee Joek, argued that it had not been proven that a collision had occured.
To which Justice Chan Seng Onn responded to his arguments: “you mean the cyclist fell off on his own?”
Justice Chan also added that the hurt to the cyclist was still caused by Teo’s actions, adding: “This lorry driver did a very rash act to ‘squeeze’ the cyclist, that he had no choice but to fall off and hurt himself.”
Tan argued that Teo heard a “long horn” as well as a sound that he thought was of a taxi colliding with him, so he swerved into the path of the cyclist to avoid the collision.
Justice Chan answered: “What long horn? Many people ‘horn’ me, I don’t care. Basically you just ignore the horn. Cannot be – if someone horns you from behind, you just run into somebody in front. Cannot be, right? (sic)”
Tan argued that the cyclist, Eric Cheung, had been aggressive – he smashed Teo’s handphone and made a false police report. He allegedly claimed that his bicycle cost $7000 and was damaged beyond use but he was able to cycle home after the incident.
Justice Chan said: “The sentence is not manifestly excessive given the fact that this is not only a rash but intentional act on the part of the appellant when he swerved the lorry to hit the bicycle, causing the cyclist to fall off and fall onto the pavement. It was a very dangerous act, having viewed the video, and I will therefore also uphold the period of disqualification.”
Teo is to serve his jail term immediately.
The cyclist Eric Cheung was fined $2,800 last year, pleading guilty to mischief and not cycling according to traffic regulations.