Singapore: Mercedes driver arrested after 23-year-old NUS student's death in Bukit Timah accident

Bukit Timah accident.
Jasmine Lim died in Bukit Timah accident. Dayre.me & Pixabay

Police arrested the 24-year-old Mercedes driver, who was involved in a fatal accident that took place at the junction of Jalan Anak Bukit and Jalan Jurong Kechil on Sunday, April 22.

The accident happened at around 1 am on Sunday that involved a SMRT bus and the car at the traffic junction in Bukit Timah. While a 23-year-old woman, who was sitting in the rear of the car, died in the accident, the woman driver and a 26-year-old male passenger suffered injuries.

When the police reached the location they found both the survivors conscious and took them to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, located at 1 Jurong East Street 21, which is almost 10 to 12 minutes away from the spot of accident.

The deceased was later identified as a Singapore resident Jasmine Lim, who was unconscious when officers took her to the National University Hospital (NUH), located at 5 Lower Kent Ridge Road. But, she failed to survive due to her serious injuries.

The accident took place when the black Mercedes was making a right turn from Jalan Anak Bukit to take the Pan-Island Expressway. The bus was off service at the time of the incident and was moving towards Clementi Road through Jalan Anak Bukit when the car suddenly collided with the vehicle at the junction. However, the bus driver was not injured and has since been reassigned to non-driving duties.

Reports stated that two survivors and the deceased were students of the National University of Singapore (NUS). Prior to the accident, they were returning from a birthday party of Lim's boyfriend.

Police said in a statement that they arrested the woman driver of the black car on the grounds of causing death by rash act.

As per Section 304A, whoever causes the death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished —

(a) in the case of a rash act, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both; or

(b) in the case of a negligent act, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

Traffic Police records show that out of 36 road accidents, 38 death cases have been registered from January 1 to April 25 this year. Compared to the same period in 2017, this is an increase of nine percent of fatal accidents and 12 percent of road traffic fatalities. In addition to this, police said the increase in fatalities on the road is attributed to passengers of motorcars and motorcyclists.

This article was first published on April 27, 2018
READ MORE