A driver whose view was partially obstructed by a sunshade struck a motorcyclist with his car, throwing him off his bike.
Delivery rider Lee Boon Tiam, 46, then rolled across Soh Guo Hing’s car bonnet and landed about five metres away. The impact of the crash also knocked off his helmet.
Soh, 40, immediately stopped his vehicle to assist Lee, who was unconscious when taken to the hospital. He died the following day at 7.07pm.
On Monday (July 7), almost two years after the accident, Soh was jailed for five months and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for eight years.
He had pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to keep a proper lookout for other road users.
View obstructed by sunshade
The fatal accident occurred at 8.29pm on September 11, 2023, at the junction of Upper Aljunied Road and Bidadari Park Drive.
According to court documents, Soh had been driving along Upper Aljunied Road. At the junction, he stopped at the traffic light, intending to turn right into Bidadari Park Drive.
When the light turned green, he allowed two pedestrians to cross the road, then moved into the yellow box and proceeded to turn right.
At the same time, Lee was riding along the opposite side of the road toward Serangoon Road, having the right of way.
Soh, who was focused only on the pedestrians and had part of his view blocked by a sunshade he had installed, failed to see the oncoming Lee and collided with him while turning.
A coroner’s report listed Lee’s cause of death as traumatic brain injury.
Road visibility, conditions clear
On Monday, prosecutors noted that Soh had been fined in 2021 for running a red light in 2021.
They added that road visibility and conditions were clear at the time, and Lee’s motorcycle headlights were on. However, Soh failed to see him until the moment of impact.
While the sunshade may have partially obstructed Soh’s view, it was installed by Soh himself, and he had failed to remove it while driving.
Prosecutors, who acknowledged that Soh had waited for other vehicles and pedestrians to pass and was not engaged in reckless driving, recommended a jail term of five to seven months and an eight-year driving ban.
‘This was too sudden’
On the day of the accident, Lee’s family was awaiting his return from work so that they could celebrate his birthday, and had prepared a feast
His eldest son Lee Yong Sen, 25, told Shin Min Daily News in 2023 that his father usually finished work between 5pm and 6pm.
When he did not return at his usual time, the family thought he was working overtime. Then they received word that he had been in an accident, and rushed to the hospital.
But the elder Lee was pronounced brain dead on 12 September 2023, a day after the accident.
“This was too sudden and we could not accept it at all. My parents loved each other deeply and my father’s death hit my mother really hard,” said Mr Lee.
Driver who killed motorcyclist in crash had view obstructed by sunshade
