68-year-old Ku Chee Kong, pleaded guilty to one count of driving without reasonable consideration for other individuals using the road causing death, and was sentenced to 7 months imprisonment on 21 October.
He will also be disqualified from holding all classes of driving licenses for 8 years after his release from prison.
He was driving an SBS Transit bus when he crashed into the cyclist, 31-year-old German Jr Miranda Gonzalez, and dragged him on the road without stopping the bus, even making a right turn despite drivers around him honking at him.
He even told a female passenger that he had seen what happened and was aware that he had hit the cyclist, and only stopped the bus completely after the passengers shouted for him to come to a halt.
What happened?
On 19 March 2021, the victim was cycling along Loyang Avenue.
Ku was about to make a right turn at the junction of Pasir Ris Drive 1 and Loyang Avenue when he noticed a “shadowy figure” on his left.
That figure was the victim who was cycling across the pedestrian crossing at the junction, despite the traffic light being in favour of the bus.
Ku then flashed his bus’ high beam twice as the victim entered the pedestrian crossing, and when he was in front of the bus.
The bus then ran over the cyclist, but the driver didn’t stop the bus after the collision and continued to complete his right turn despite the drivers in the vicinity honking at him.
A female passenger asked the driver if he had seen what happened, and he told he that he did, as the bus continued moving.
He finally stopped the bus after being shouted at by the passengers.
The victim was dragged on the road for about 35 metres and was pronounced dead at the scene at about 11.31pm after sustaining multiple injuries.
An autopsy that was performed on the victim, also showed that he had 221mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood in his system.