It was previously reported that the families of the three passengers who died in the infamous Tanjong Pagar car crash in February 2021, are seeking $1.7 million from the driver’s estate.
Madam Chan, the mother of the deceased driver Jonathan Long Junwei, has since filed her defence and denied the claims of the victims’ families, saying that their deaths were caused by their own negligence, according to The Straits Times.
The car was driven by her son Long at the time, and Madam Chan said that the victims knew that Long had consumed alcohol in quantities that rendered him unfit to drive safely.
She also denied that her son owed the victims, Mr Eugene Yap Zheng Min, Mr Wilson Teo Qi Xiang, and Mr Gary Wong Hong Chieh; a duty of care, and that they had willingly participated in the illegal activity.
Chan added that the deceased passengers had encouraged Long to take them for a ride in his car and failed to take adequate precautions for their own safety.
She denied her son’s liability under the “ex turpi causa non aritur actio” principle, which means that the claimants cannot pursue legal damages because of their own unlawful actions.
Recap
The infamous accident that occurred at Tanjong Pagar which resulted the death of several people has further developments.
The families are seeking to claim $1.7M from the driver’s estate.
They are the families of Eugene Yap Zheng Min, Teo Qi Xiang and Gary Wong Hong Chieh.
The families are represented by Daniel Goh Choon Wah of Characterist LLC.
Types of claims in this case
- Dependency Claims
- Loss of Financial Contributions
- Funeral expenses
- A Rolex that Yap was wearing
- Care and custody of Wong’s dog
Background
The fiery car crashed at Tanjong Pagar last year involving a white BMW, saw the deaths of 5 men and the girlfriend of one of the men, Raybe Oh, rushing into the fire to save her boyfriend and sustaining serious burns in the process.
Drink driving and speeding
The coroner’s inquiry into the deaths of the quintet began, with Traffic Police investigator, Senior Staff Sergeant Muhammad Firdaus Suleiman testifying to State Coroner Adam Nakhoda earlier today (9 June) that the speed limit for that particular stretch of road being 50km/h.
An autopsy report of the driver, 29-year-old Jonathan Long Junwei, showed that he was drink driving at the time, with an alcohol reading of 86mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, which is above the legal limit fo 80mg per 100ml.
Killed
Long was driving his BMW M4 at about 5.40am before crashing the vehicle into a shophouse, and it then burst into flames with the men trapped inside.
The passengers, Mr Teo Qi Xiang, 26; Mr Elvin Tan Yong Hao, 28; Mr Eugene Yap Zheng Min, 29; and Mr Gary Wong Hong Chieh, 29; and Long, were all killed in the incident.
Raybe Oh then rushed to the crash site and tried to help them but suffered severe burns in the process, and she was then seen in video footage emerging from the fire covered in flames, and she then spent 4 months in SGH as well as requiring multiple surgeries for her recovery.
Aviva financial advisers
Four of the men were financial advisers with Aviva, with Wong being a former representative of the company.
The coroner’s inquiry into the case has yet to conclude and is still ongoing, stay tuned for updates.