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SINGAPORE – A cyclist received a prison sentence for an accident involving a pedestrian who died of his injuries five days after the accident.
Toni Timo Salminen, who is Finnish, was sentenced on Thursday (December 10) to a week in jail after pleading guilty to causing the death of Chew Fook Yew by negligent riding a bicycle.
The 42-year-old offender failed to maintain proper vigilance while riding his bike down Sims Avenue on October 1 of last year.
Deputy Prosecutor Rimplejit Kaur said the 53-year-old pedestrian had not crossed recklessly and that the accident occurred more than 50 meters from the nearest crosswalk.
She added: “This is not a case where the deceased suddenly rushed onto the road, suddenly appeared on the road from a concealed position, suddenly stopped while crossing the street, suddenly turned around while crossing the road, hesitated or stayed across the street or bent over suddenly to pick up something while crossing the street.
“In fact … the defendant had an unobstructed view of the entire process of the deceased crossing the street, from the beginning to the collision, if he had maintained adequate surveillance.”
Salminen was in the second lane of the four-lane highway along Sims Avenue to Sims Avenue East at 6.16 pm when Mr. Chew entered the fourth and far left lane.
Although Salminen saw Mr. Chew walking quickly into the third lane, he did not slow down.
DPP Kaur said: “According to the defendant, when the deceased was already in lane two, the defendant rang the bicycle bell and squeezed the brakes … The defendant, however, was unable to stop the bicycle in time, as the distance between the accused and the deceased was too low.
“As a result, the defendant collided with the deceased. The deceased fell backwards onto the road while the defendant was thrown off his bicycle and thrown onto the road.”
Salminen then attended to Mr. Chew, who was lying motionless on the road, and waited until an ambulance arrived at the scene.
An ambulance took the pedestrian to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Salminen alerted police to the incident at 7.08pm that day.
Chew was pronounced dead around 10:30 p.m. on October 6 last year.
After an autopsy, it was discovered that he had died from a head injury, consistent with one suffered in a traffic accident.
For causing Chew’s death by negligent riding, Salminen could have been jailed for up to two years and fined.
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