High-speed chase on expressway ends in crash at Punggol

SINGAPORE - An 18-year-old man has been arrested after he tried to evade Traffic Police officers and led them on a high-speed chase on the expressway.

He was caught when his vehicle eventually crashed into a road divider in Punggol.

The incident happened in the early hours of Saturday (May 22).

Traffic Police officers were patrolling Seletar Expressway towards Tampines Expressway (TPE) on that day when they signalled for a car to stop, said the police on Monday.

But the driver sped off instead, and the officers gave chase.

A video uploaded on YouTube by Facebook group SG Road Vigilante shows a blue car moving at high speed down the TPE near Punggol, with a Traffic Police motorcycle in pursuit.

[embed]https://youtu.be/CHw5plIIFzI[/embed]

The police said the chase came to an end when the car crashed into a central divider in Punggol Way.

A 21-year-old male passenger was taken to hospital, while the driver was arrested for careless driving causing grievous hurt.

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The driver is also under investigation for driving without a valid driving licence, using a motor vehicle without insurance coverage, driving without the vehicle owner's consent and other traffic-related offences, police said.

A witness told Chinese-language daily Lianhe Wanbao that the passenger was unable to get out of the vehicle after the crash, as the car door had been knocked out of shape.

She said several individuals attempted to help the passenger but to no avail.

The driver, on the other hand, was able to leave the vehicle and did not appear to be injured, said the witness.

In another part of the YouTube video, officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) can be seen gathering around the car as it rests on a divider in the middle of the road.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_dnZznNskM[/embed]

The SCDF told The Straits Times on Monday that it was alerted to a road traffic accident near the junction of Punggol Way and Sengkang East Road.

Hydraulic rescue tools were used to free a person trapped in the passenger seat, the SCDF added.

The police are investigating.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.