After causing a bus collision which resulted in injuries to a total of 34 people, including a pregnant woman who later suffered a miscarriage in May 2018, a 65-year-old SBS bus driver was convicted and sentenced to four weeks in prison due to negligent driving on Wednesday (22 Jul 2020).
According to a report by Shinmin Daily News, the driver was faced with two charges from the incident due to negligent driving leading to hurt, and negligent driving leading to grievous hurt.
Pregnant Passenger Suffers Miscarriage
Although the pregnant passenger sustained relatively mild external injuries—with no abdominal injuries—doctors believed that stress from the incident led to her miscarriage.
Two other elderly passengers aged 64 and 89 years old, were among those severely injured although they were not left with permanent injuries. They reportedly suffered from spinal fractures.
According to reports, the accident took place around 9.05am on 11 May 2018 at a bus stop along Jalan Jurong Kechil near Bukit Batok. The collision involved two buses, an SBS Transit bus and an SMRT bus.
Image source: Facebook screengrab
Following the incident, Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) were alerted immediately, SBS transit said in a media statement.
Negligent Driving Caused the Accident
65-year-old Li Hongyong, the SBS Transit bus driver who was driving the 157 bus service, reportedly failed to brake while at the bus stop, crashing into the SMRT bus (970 service) that was in front.
At the time of the incident, passengers from the SMRT bus were alighting at the bus stop but the SBS bus driver was said to have “turned left and entered the bus lane” without “[paying] attention to the [SMRT bus] in front”.
The entire process was recorded by the SBS bus.
Image source: Facebook/Lianhe Wanbao
Pictures posted online showed both buses severely wrecked from the aftermath of the accident. The SBS transit bus was seen to have mounted the kerb of the bus stop and hit a bollard. The impact also caused the windshield to become completely shattered.
On the other hand, the back of the SMRT bus was said to have been dented with the back window fully shattered. The lights at the back of the bus had also become dislodged.
Apart from passengers’ injuries, the SMRT bus driver was also reportedly injured and the SBS transit driver himself was admitted to the hospital for two days and received two days of sick leave.
According to SCDF, 14 injured passengers were taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, another 14 to the National University Hospital and five to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Seven people have been warded in hospital from the accident.
Bus Driver to Face Charges
The 65-year-old, who started work with SBS just three months before the incident was convicted and sentenced to four weeks in prison, with a three-year suspension to his license. He has also been dismissed from the company following the incident.
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