Another case of NS - Kills
I remember there is a song, Who you want to be Ah! "Cook, Clerk, Driver"! But in this case, NS SAF driver is Forced to drive a Land Rover, the Old and lousy vehicle, serve NS and destroyed his future at 22.
A 65—year—old taxi driver, who was involved in a collision with a Ministry of Defence (Mindef) land—rover, has sued the Government in the High Court after the accident left him paralysed from the neck down.
Mr Choy Yue Leong, who was ferrying his last passenger during a night shift, was driving along Jalan Bahar towards Lim Chu Kang on April 3 last year at around 5.45am when the collision occurred.
The land—rover was travelling in the opposite direction and making a right turn at the time. The collision seriously damaged both vehicles and has left Mr Choy hospitalised since.
Mr Choy, through his lawyers S. Selvaraj and Daniel Atticus Xu from MyintSoe and Selvaraj, alleged the collision was caused by the land—rover driver’s "sole negligence". The Mindef driver, who is 22 years old, had allegedly failed to keep any proper lookout and drove at an excess speed, among other things.
As a result, Mr Choy "has suffered personal injuries and consequential loss", Mr Selvaraj argued.
A National University Hospital (NUH) medical report said Mr Choy "will be permanently disabled from the accident".
The Attorney—General, who is acting on behalf of the Government in the civil suit, has denied the claims. The traffic light at the road junction indicated a red light with green turning arrow in the land—rover driver’s favour, argued State Counsel Lim Sai Nei.
As the Mindef driver was making a right turn into the Pan—Island Expressway, Ms Lim said Mr Choy’s taxi "suddenly collided into the front left portion of the Government vehicle". The accident was "wholly caused by the negligence of the Plaintiff in the driving, use, management and control" of his taxi, the AG argued in its defence filed in the High Court.
An interlocutory judgment has been entered which means both sides will share liability for the collision.
A further pre—trial conference has been set for May 15. As the suit is heard before the High Court, Mr Choy’s claim will exceed $250,000.
When the collision occurred, the road surface was dry, the weather was clear and traffic volume was light. A passenger whom Mr Choy was ferrying was asleep when the collision occurred.
The land—rover’s driver and four passengers were brought to a hospital. It is not known if the land—rover driver has been dealt with by the authorities.
After spending six months in NUH, Mr Choy was transferred to Ang Mo Kio—Thye Hua Kwan Hospital last November for further rehabilitation.
When MediaCorp visited Mr Choy, 65, on Wednesday night, the former cabbie tried to speak, but his voice was barely audible. He also needed help for simple tasks — for example, a family member had to help roll him over to prevent bed sores from developing.
Mr Choy’s son, Patrick, told MediaCorp that his father was finishing his shift when the collision occurred. He had also been driving a taxi for more than 20 years, Patrick added.
The family has had a trying time since the accident — not only are the cabbie’s medical bills mounting, Mr Choy’s wife was also diagnosed with breast cancer last December and is now undergoing treatment.
Nothing to do with the vocation.
Problem's with the individual.
Actually it is quite unclear. who is wrong or right.
The land rover, should have slow down when making the right turn., since it is old and lousy, its turning speed cannot be so high. He should have turn slowly.
If the taxi driver is driving straight, he should see a big land rover in front of him, he should also slow down also.
If one have been driving on the road, you should know, taxi driver are the worse drivers on the road, followed by BMW, motorcyclists.
land rover can only travel at 50km/h... so he can stop anytime he wants... i think its the taxi driver that is traveling very quickly, jalan bahar that stretch of road got no cars most of the time, and at 5.45am it should be empty, the taxi driver must be thinking late already so must chiong go home, then yet he kanna accident.
*rips off moderator's hat*
Can you guys for freak's sake stop politicizing every single damn issue and turn it into a 'PAP's fault, gahmen's fault' witchhunt?!?!?!
Driver drives fast and never keeps proper lookout, and you want to blame NS for that?!?!
*puts moderator's hat back on*
Originally posted by Patrik:Nothing to do with the vocation.
Problem's with the individual.
yah. It's the individual problem.
i think its the problem of the taxi driver... L/R can go how fast? at most 55km/h... unless swd tampered... turning time at most 40km/h... a crash could have been avoidable if the TD never chiong... haiz... got the poor nsf into trouble.. then wanna sue for money now....
if no witness
then case close
as simple as that
Originally posted by MaNyZeR:land rover can only travel at 50km/h... so he can stop anytime he wants... i think its the taxi driver that is traveling very quickly, jalan bahar that stretch of road got no cars most of the time, and at 5.45am it should be empty, the taxi driver must be thinking late already so must chiong go home, then yet he kanna accident.
I second that.
I'm sure if you've taken any Military Vehicle that is travelling at 50km/hr will feel that the only problem the vehicle is facing is potential road hog. It is painfully slow to get from one location to the other.
The SWD on every Military Vehicle will set off a beep everytime the vehicle exceeds 50km/hr (applicable only to downslope as far as i can remember). 10 beeps = DB unless it's for emergency cases.
Jalan Bahar should be quite an empty stretch of road with very few vehicles travelling. Usually occupied with Lorries and Heavy Vehicles.
My take on this is the Taxi Driver is probably driving fast to get out of that place. (It's quite eerie at night). And ever wonder how can he sue when his voice was barely audible?
Originally posted by fudgester:*rips off moderator's hat*
Can you guys for freak's sake stop politicizing every single damn issue and turn it into a 'PAP's fault, gahmen's fault' witchhunt?!?!?!
Driver drives fast and never keeps proper lookout, and you want to blame NS for that?!?!
*puts moderator's hat back on*
what you guys? I doubt it is forumer or TS wana to blame NS but the Taxi driver's family unless the TS / forumer is the family member / friends of the TD. But seriously, it can be the Taxi driver's fault.
And it is saying that, if it is mainly TD's fault, this independent and separate incident can really do this young 22 year NSmen no good right? Surely the end result will be from "trivial" as simple as case close and compenstate some money to the TD's family (It is serious if the guy is not a rich family) because after negoitation, things are settle out of court or can be as serious as blacklisted from driving (Then in future got less job vacancy choice) and getting a jail in military (And waste his youth time)? Who knows?
Originally posted by CKeer:I second that.
I'm sure if you've taken any Military Vehicle that is travelling at 50km/hr will feel that the only problem the vehicle is facing is potential road hog. It is painfully slow to get from one location to the other.
The SWD on every Military Vehicle will set off a beep everytime the vehicle exceeds 50km/hr (applicable only to downslope as far as i can remember). 10 beeps = DB unless it's for emergency cases.
Jalan Bahar should be quite an empty stretch of road with very few vehicles travelling. Usually occupied with Lorries and Heavy Vehicles.
My take on this is the Taxi Driver is probably driving fast to get out of that place. (It's quite eerie at night). And ever wonder how can he sue when his voice was barely audible?
That could be no case. Because, he can get his family, friends or lawyer to take care of sueing issue.
Originally posted by Samuel Lee:That could be no case. Because, he can get his family, friends or lawyer to take care of sueing issue.
I know that, but the question is, if he is barely audible, how can he relate the events to his family, friends or lawyer?
Originally posted by CKeer:I know that, but the question is, if he is barely audible, how can he relate the events to his family, friends or lawyer?
Taken from some drama story, it can be done via handwriting or nod / shook head as well. (This TD like kena vegetable liao)