Woman jailed for causing m-cyclist's death

A woman who beat a red light and caused the death of a motorcyclist by dangerous driving was sentenced to six months' jail and banned from driving for seven years yesterday.

Riana Sapuan, 44, a shipping-firm secretary, had admitted to driving along Choa Chu Kang West Flyover on Nov 10, 2012, when she caused the death of Ho Sheng Ngian, 59, at the signalised cross junction of Choa Chu Kang Way by Kranji Expressway.

She had failed to follow the red traffic signal and driven through the junction, hitting Mr Ho, who was making a right turn from the Choa Chu Kang East Flyover slip road. The light was then green in his favour.

Mr Ho, a driver, suffered severe injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A CCTV recording at the junction showed that Riana's red Hyundai had gone into the junction despite a red-light signal in her direction, resulting in the accident.

Riana, who was made bankrupt in April 2004, was also jailed another eight weeks after admitting to three of 50 counts of leaving Singapore without the prior permission of the Official Assignee (OA) between last year and early this year.

Her lawyer, Amarick Gill, said in mitigation that his client thought that the traffic light was green in her favour at the time.

He said the stretch of road that his client was driving along has many traffic-light junctions. Her mistake was that she was looking at the traffic lights of the next junction and not those of the concerned junction, which were indeed red when she was crossing it.

Riana, who is out on $15,000 bail to make care arrangements for her ill father and three children, will commence her sentence on Dec 17.

She could have been jailed for up to five years for causing death by dangerous driving. The maximum punishment for leaving the country without permission from the OA is a $10,000 fine and two years' jail on each charge.

elena@sph.com.sg

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