Woman charged after crashing into kerb in Bugis, abandoning car to eat supper with friends

After crashing her car into a kerb in Bugis, a woman decided to leave it behind and have supper with her friends.

Carrissa Loh, 30, had also refused to return to the scene of the accident when contacted by the police.

For this incident, Loh was charged with failing to drive with due care for others, failing to remain at the scene to assist a police officer after an accident, and leaving a vehicle on a road in a position that can cause danger and obstruction to other road users. 

She also faced charges for an unrelated incident where she swapped seats with a disqualified driver and provided false information to police officers, local media reported.

The woman faced a total of seven charges, five of which she pleaded guilty to on Wednesday (May 20). The remaining charges will be taken into consideration during sentencing, according to Shin Min Daily News.

The crash took place at about 3.03am on Feb 1, at the junction of Middle Road and Queen Street.

Investigations revealed that Loh had been driving the car while three of her friends were passengers.

After stopping at a red light at the intersection of Middle Road and Queen Street and tailing the car in front to make a right turn, she suddenly lost control of her vehicle.

The car mounted the road divider before crashing into a plastic bollard, which was uprooted due to the force of the collision, according to charge sheets.

Loh and her friends then abandoned the car at the scene and went to have supper, reported Shin Min.

It was obstructing the rightmost lane of Middle Road, while its right rear wheel remained mounted on the road divider.

Upon their arrival, the police towed the vehicle and called Loh to request she return.

Despite being warned that it was a crime to leave the scene of an accident, Loh refused to return to the crash site.

During court proceedings on Wednesday, Loh's lawyer stated that she suffers from severe depression and requested for her to undergo psychiatric assessment before being sentenced.

The prosecution did not object to this and the woman was ordered by the judge to proceed with the assessment. 

Loh also faced charges for a separate traffic incident which occurred in February 2023.

She had allegedly swapped seats with the male driver and lied to traffic police that she had been driving after the pair were pulled over for speeding along the KPE.

This was because the male driver in question held a disqualified driver's licence.

Her case has been adjourned to June 23.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com