SHIN MING NEWS EDITOR's Accident with a biker and his pillon.

Having been on the road since November 2007 and then making the switch

from 4 wheels to two. I cannot help but notice the vunerabilities of

bikers on Singapore's roads.

A famous chinese saying is that bikers are "flesh wrapped around

metal", rather than "metal wrapped around flesh" in cars. Another

saying is that "the road is like a tiger's mouth."

As of 2008 there were 550,455 motorcars and 145,288 motorcycles on the

road (Land Transport Authority,2009). The car population outnumbers

bike population almost 5:1!

In 2008, 108 out of 222 [48.6%] road fatalities were made up of

motorcyclists and/or pillon riders (Singapore Police Force, 2009). 100

people dead a year is definitely a figure that we should sit up and

take notice of, and these people are the ones who are on bikes.

Most of these accidents are caused by carelessness, either by the

riders or other road users. One such case that is kicking up a storm in

a teacup is the incident involving the former editor of SHIN MIN DAILY

NEWS chinese editor.

"Lim was driving along Whitley Road towards Orchard Road on Dec 24,

2006 when she crashed into a motorcycle travelling down Dunearn Road.

The motorcyclist was flung off the bike, as was his pillion rider, an

Indonesian maid, who later died from her injuries.

Lim ran up two charges - that of causing death by dangerous driving and

of causing grievous hurt by a rash act. She contested both

Eyewitness testimony suggested she ran a red light, but she insisted

she did not know that the lights were against her.

......

Mr Anandan [her lawyer] argued at the appeal that she did not know the

lights were red and that she had not intended to beat them"
(Lum.S,20 April 2009,The Straits Times).

Let us review the facts:
- LIM ran a red light
- She did not see the lights were against her and hence did not "intend
to run the red light"
- As a result she collided into a motorcyclist
- The impact flung both rider and pillon off
- Pillon was a 24 year old indon made (Deceased)
- Rider was a 70 year old man (injured seriously)

So what was the verdict?

"THE FIRST CHARGE

Causing the death of pillion rider Melania Melaniawati, 24, by

dangerous driving. Maximum sentence under the law: Up to five years'

jail.

# July 31, 2008: A district court sentences Lim Hong Eng to 18 months'

jail, plus a 10-year driving ban.

# April 17, 2009 (morning): At her appeal hearing, the High Court

sentences her to a day's jail and a $10,000 fine.

# April 17, 2009 (afternoon): The High Court sets aside the fine,

leaving her with the one-day jail term.

THE SECOND CHARGE

Causing grievous hurt in a rash act to motorcyclist David Jermais

Pattiselanno, 70. Maximum sentence under the law: Up to two years' jail

or a fine of up to $1,000 or both.

# July 31, 2008: A district court sentences Lim to six months' jail.

# April 17, 2009: The High Court amends the charge to one of dangerous

driving, which carries up to 12 months' jail or a maximum $3,000 fine,

or both. The court fines her $2,000" (The Straits Times, 2009)

In a nutshell, LIM was sentenced to the following AFTER APPEALING:

- 10 years ban from driving
- One (1) day in jail
- $2000 fine for dangerous driving

This is the judgement that has got the local biking comunnity up in

arms. A life of a promising young 24 year old female indonesian was

snuffed out brutally by a driver zoning out behind the wheel. She

failed to notice that the light was red and failed to notice the bike

coming out of the side road and collided with the rider, seriously

injuring a senior citizen and killing a youth with her whole life ahead

of her.

Was the sentence fitting of a crime that took a life away and left

another to live with the trauma of the accident?

"Justice Choo said Lim's culpability laid in her "failure to keep a

proper lookout" and this did not warrant a harsh custodial sentence.

As for the second charge of causing grievous hurt by a rash act, he

said that evidence showed Lim was unaware that the traffic light had

turned red.

In his view, Justice Choo said Lim was more negligent than rash, so he

amended the second charge to a lighter one of dangerous driving"

(Huang. C, 17 April 2009, Channel News Asia).

Let's review the logic behind the judgement that was passed down:
- Failing to keep a proper lookout [i.e. dreaming] does not warrant a

harsh custodial senetnce... perhaps a slap on the wrist might suffice
- Unaware that the traffic light was red [i.e. dreaming again] is

negligent so a very light slap on the wrist will do too.

In conclusion, if u beat a red light, collide into a rider, injure him

seriously and kill his pillon, and admit that you were dreaming, you

would get away with a day in jail, no driver's license for the next

decade and a portion of your monthly salary in a fine.

These are the facts, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you for reading.