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A cyclist, who had hit a pedestrian who later died, was jailed yesterday for a week. Toni Timo Salminen, 42, pleaded guilty to negligent cycling, causing the death of Chew Fook Yew.
The Finn was unable to maintain proper surveillance while on Sims Avenue at around 6:15 p.m. on October 1 last year and did not notice the 53-year-old man crossing the street in front of him.
Salminen was thrown off his bike in the collision near the unsigned junction at Lorong 33 Geylang.
Chew fell backwards to the road, sustaining a head injury that required brain surgery. He died five days later.
After the accident, Salminen had cared for Mr. Chew until he was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He also made a police report.
Assistant District Attorney Rimplejit Kaur sought a three-week jail term, noting that Chew was not crossing the street recklessly.
Defense attorney Manoj Nandwani requested a fine of $ 6,000 and said the case was unique. He said that Salminen, who was cycling to and from work, had traveled at 15 km / h, a reasonable speed.
Giving brief reasons for his sentence, District Judge Christopher Goh said he visited the scene and took into account the images from two police cameras.
At one point, a truck passed Mr. Chew as he crossed the street, and the judge accepted that Salminen might not have seen him cross the lane until the truck passed.
The judge also reviewed more than 240 cases involving the same crime, noting that fines were only imposed on 8 percent of them, usually when the deceased had contributed significantly to their own death or was the defendant’s loved one.
It found no significant contributing negligence on Chew’s part, but said it appeared to have angled into the Salminen lane, without looking at the traffic.
The judge said: “With the benefit of hindsight, perhaps it could be said that (he) should not have crossed the road where he did. Although I can understand that a cyclist would be more inclined to focus on the road ahead. It cannot be an excuse for not adequately monitoring other road users, including pedestrians in particular. “
The judge told Salminen, “I’m sure this will be on your mind for a long time. Done is done.”
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