Cabby gets a week's jail for fatal accident

A taxi driver who knocked down and killed a fellow cabby after failing to spot him cleaning his car by the roadside was jailed for a week on Monday.

Seah Chuan Choon, 41, was driving a passenger along Bedok South Road but failed to see 65-year-old Wong Kok Seng wiping the window next to the driver's seat.

Mr Wong was flung 7m by the impact and died almost immediately from multiple injuries.

Both men worked for ComfortDelGro.

Seah pleaded guilty to failing to keep a proper lookout and causing the fatal accident.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz called on the court to impose a jail term because the accident occurred on a straight road with good visibility.

She said that while the passenger had noticed Mr Wong, Seah failed to do so.

She also pointed out that he was driving at 70kmh - 10kmh above the road's speed limit at 2.15am on Aug 25 last year.

Asking the court to impose a heavy fine instead, defence counsel Lim Poh Choo said that Mr Wong had stopped his taxi on double yellow lines and had not switched on his hazard lights.

Agreeing there was contributory negligence, District Judge Eddy Tham said a jail term was still appropriate as Seah was clearly negligent in failing to see the other cabby.

Seah was also disqualified from driving for five years and will start serving his sentence on Oct 21 as he needed two weeks to settle arrangements with his employer.

A ComfortDelGro spokesman was unavailable for comment.

Seah could have been jailed for up to 10 years, fined and caned.

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