By AMANDA YONG

HE DROVE into a bus lane during restricted hours.

But when caught for the offence, taxi driver Mohd Adam Abdullah refused to admit that he was in the wrong.

Instead, he claimed trial to the charge.

He felt his taxi was "public transport", as such he was entitled to use the bus lane during restricted hours.

Mohd Adam, who represented himself, submitted that he had not contravened any road-traffic rule. But District Judge Ronald Gwee threw out his argument.

Last month, he found Mohd Adam guilty and fined him $600. But Mohd Adam did not pay the fine and served a default sentence of three days' jail.

He is appealing against the conviction and sentence.

Mohd Adam was charged with driving in a bus lane along Eunos Link between Kaki Bukit Avenue 1 and Bedok Reservoir Road at about 6pm on 16 Dec last year.

This fell within the restricted hours for bus lanes. Only buses are allowed on bus lanes between 7.30am and 9.30am, and between 5pm and 8pm on weekdays.

A traffic warden saw Mohd Adam drive into the buslane and stop to pick up a passenger, and caught his actions on camera.

Mohd Adam did not dispute the traffic warden's account of events. What he did dispute was that he had committed an offence at all.

In his defence, he tendered documents including one entitled "Highway Code Rules & Regulations".

He read out part of an explanation in this document, which stated that "vehicles other than public transport" were not allowed to use the bus lane during restricted hours.

He argued that his taxi was "public transport". Hence, he was allowed to use the bus lane during restricted hours.

But Judge Gwee pointed out that what Mohd Adam had failed to do was to read the whole of the explanation, which stated that "vehicles other than public transport buses (omnibuses)" were not allowed to use the bus lane during restricted hours.

The judge noted that Mohd Adam had driven in the bus lane to pick up a passenger, not to avoid causing danger to another person or a collision with another vehicle.

Potentially dangerous move

"The very act of a vehicle (other than a bus) driving into and out of the bus stop... may itself have been a potentially dangerous move," he concluded.

On the sentence he meted out, Judge Gwee wrote: "This was a lenient sentence in the circumstances, considering that the accused had claimed trial to a charge to which there was no defence on the facts of the case."

For driving in a bus lane during restricted hours, Mohd Adam could have been fined $1,000.

This article was first published in The New Paper.