THE taxi driver accused of causing the death of a man who fell off the bonnet of his cab told the court yesterday that he feared ending up a victim of road rage.

Taking the stand for the first time, Lee Yuet Kong said that he retreated into his vehicle after the minor collision between his cab and a car driven by Mr Alex Lim Wee Chong because the 'big-size' man confronted him.

When the two men stepped out of their vehicles, Mr Lim shouted in Hokkien: "Why you drive like that?"

Said Lee: "I was very scared as the driver of the red Mazda was very big."

Mr Lim - a 30-year-old financial planner - stood 1.8m tall and weighed about 75kg.

Lee, 67, is frail-looking, about 1.7m tall, suffers from nose cancer and diabetes, and is awaiting open-heart surgery for his heart problems.

The court had earlier heard that Mr Lim had stood in front of the taxi to prevent it from driving off, and that he ended up hanging onto the bonnet when it moved off. He then fell to the ground and suffered head injuries.

Mr Lim died later in hospital.

Lee is on trial for allegedly causing Mr Lim's death through a rash act.

Led by his lawyer N.K. Rajarh, Lee said yesterday that his taxi had a minor collision with Mr Lim's Mazda along Paterson Road, near Borders bookshop, soon after 9pm on April 9.

Both vehicles then pulled up on the extreme left lane of Scotts Road in front of Isetan, with the Mazda in front.

Following the confrontation, Lee returned to his cab. This led Mr Lim to stand in front of the taxi.

Lee said he wound down the car window three times - to tell Mr Lim to make a police report but the motorist did not budge.

Only when Mr Lim moved to the right side of the taxi did Lee move off very slowly - "at about 5kmh" - but Mr Lim then 'hopped' onto the bonnet.

His passenger, Miss Christina Cheong Peck Boon, then tapped him on his shoulder and asked him to stop.

He braked, and collected her fare. It was only then that he saw Mr Lim lying on the road about 2m from his taxi.

"I called the police as I saw blood on the road," Lee told District Judge Victor Yeo.

He did not help Mr Lim as other people were doing that and alighted only when the police arrived. By then, an ambulance had taken Mr Lim to hospital.

Under cross-examination by Deputy Public Prosecutor Adeline Ee, Lee said that in an accident, a cabby could take down the other vehicle's number plate and make a police report, or exchange particulars with the other driver.

Lee's testimony yesterday did not tally with that of his passenger, Miss Cheong.

The 36-year-old telemarketer had told the court earlier that Mr Lim was still in front and had fallen onto the bonnet of the taxi when it started moving.

DPP Ee also informed the court that Lee's testimony was not corroborated with his police statement after the incident where he said that he drove off to pressure Mr Lim to get out of his way.

The cross-examination continues on Monday.