By Celine Lim

TIME and time again, his family had asked him to stop riding a motorcycle.

It was not just because Mr Ahmad Mohammad Iskandar, 23, did not have a licence.

What worried them was how he liked to speed on the roads.

His elder sister, Madam Siti Fatimah, 25, a customer service officer, said: 'We've seen him riding around here and he's not safe.

'The way he was riding, it's like he was going to die like that. We were all scared for him.'

Yesterday morning, their worst fears came true.

Mr Ahmad died on the spot after the motorcycle he was riding collided with a taxi at the junction of Sims Avenue and Sims Way at about 5am.

A witness said he saw the motorcyclist speeding along Sims Avenue when a traffic police patrol car tried to pull him over, reported Shin Min Daily News.

He fled instead, and the police officers gave chase.

When they got to a red light, the police officers stopped. But Mr Ahmad dashed ahead and into the path of an oncoming taxi.

Unable to swerve in time, the taxi which had been travelling along Sims Way towards Mountbatten Road, hit the motorcycle.

IMPACT

The impact flung Mr Ahmad and his pillion rider, Mr Ryan Ashley Pereira, 19, onto the road.

The taxi skidded another 20m and mounted a grass verge, ran into a row of tree saplings before finally stopping after crashing into the perimeter wall of a condominium.

The driver was seen sitting in his taxi, dazed, for some time until the paramedics arrived on the scene.

He then stepped shakily out of the taxi by himself.

A police spokesman said the driver, a Chinese man in his early 50s, was seriously injured but conscious.

The pillion rider had multiple arm and leg fractures.

Both were taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

The spokesman said a second motorcyclist skidded while trying to avoid the collision.

The rider, a Chinese man in his late teens, was also taken to TTSH for pain in his right knee and multiple abrasions.

Police investigations are on-going.

Mr Ahmad's mother, Madam Rahmah Sawan, 45, a housewife, was shocked by news of his death at 7.30am yesterday.

She last saw him on Monday night before he went out with his friends.

She said he did not always return home so she was not alarmed when she woke up to find that he was not at home.

Madam Rahmah said her son, the fourth of seven children, has a low IQ and went to a special school.

She said: 'He is talkative and friendly with those he knows, but he is too aggressive and gets into trouble easily.

'I always worry about him.'

Madam Rahmah said Mr Ahmad was released from prison last September after serving an 18-month sentence for rioting. She said he seemed to have changed for the better and was working at a pest control company until two months ago.

Madam Siti said her brother had wanted a motorcycle licence.

'But he had no money for one, so he took the risk and rode without a licence,' she said.

CAN'T CONTROL HIM

'All of us had advised him not to ride motorcycles, but he is stubborn. He's 23 already, how to control him? We can't monitor him all the time.'

She said the family does not know where he got the motorcycle from as he does not own one.

The two men's friend, Miss Yanni Radiana, 18, a sales assistant, said Mr Pereira also did not own any vehicles.

She said Mr Ahmad was taking Mr Pereira back to the latter's Haig Road home after a karoke session at Boat Quay when the accident happened.

She said the pair had met through a motorcycle group about six months ago and had quickly become 'best friends'.

The fiancee of Mr Pereira's elder brother, who wanted to be known only as Miss Sri, 23, said of the two: 'They're very close.

'They can't stop laughing when they are together.

'I don't think Ryan knows what happened to Ahmad. Ryan has been in surgery for more than 12 hours since the accident and is having difficulty pulling through himself.'

She said Mr Pereira had been going for motorcycle-riding lessons and was planning to get his licence in August.

Mr Pereira's step-mother, MadamAnnie Khee, 50, a clinic assistant, said: 'We last saw Ryan more than a month ago as he doesn't live with us.

'My heart dropped when his friends called me at about 1pm to tell me about the accident.'

She said that apart from fractures on his arms and legs, he also had a fractured spine and internal injuries.

His father, Mr Derek Pereira, 50, a civil servant, said: 'Usually it's the pillion rider who goes first before the rider in a motorcycle accident.

'Maybe this is a warning from above for Ryan, a wake-up call. Hopefully, he'll turn out okay after the surgery.' -TNP