66 year old Loo Eng Chai, the bus driver involved in the viral Bukit Batok Bus Interchange collision last July between two Tower Transit buses was charged in court today (9 Feb) for the injuries of 14 people.
A count of causing grievous hurt to six victims due to an act of negligence and a count of causing hurt to another eight victims due to an act of negligence was given to Loo.
Recap on incident
The incident happened in the evening of 11 July 2021, when Loo was driving an empty bus at the interchange and allegedly failed to give way to another bus which resulted in a collision between the both buses.
Loo was turning right while the other bus which was carrying passengers was moving from his left to his right.
Tower Transit then conducted an internal investigation into the incident which led to the dismissal of Loo after he was found to be at fault for the incident.
Both buses involved were on the route for service number 945 when the incident occurred causing the bus with passengers to smash the railings and eventually falling to the road on its side.
Accident victims
Victims of the accident include passengers on board the bus with the right of way, the bus captain and a 57 year old pedestrian who happened to be at the scene of the incident.
Two of the victims were elderly consisting of a 70 year old woman and a 60 year old man.
One of the victims was also a young girl at the age of 10.
Wants to plead guilty
Loo said in court that he wishes to plead guilty but did not wish to serve time in prison as without his income, he will not be able to support his family and they will suffer from his loss of income.
He is currently unrepresented and wishes to apply for a lawyer from the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme.
Possible penalties
If Loo is found guilty of causing grievous hurt through negligence, he can face up to two years of jail time and/or fined up to $5,000.
If he is guilty of causing hurt by negligence, he can face up to two years of jail time and/or fined up to $2,500 and also be banned from driving.
Image source: Singapore Civil Defence Force