SINGAPORE — A lorry driver found guilty of causing hurt to a cyclist in a viral road rage accident in 2018 was again involved in a traffic accident. Except this time, he was not at fault.

Instead, Mr Teo Seng Tiong, 59, was one of three victims whose vehicles were rear-ended by others along the Tampines Expressway in 2019. A second victim suffered multiple injuries, including tendon cuts and an open fracture on his leg.

Ong Kar Wee Jason, 49, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Nov 11) to one count of causing grievous hurt by a negligent act endangering human life, by failing to keep a proper lookout for vehicles in front of him and causing three vehicles to crash into each other.

Ong was fined S$2,000 and disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for nine months. If he cannot pay the fine, he has to serve two weeks’ jail.

For the earlier viral road rage accident, Mr Teo, an odd-job worker, was sentenced in January this year to seven weeks’ jail, a S$500 fine and a two-year driving ban.

He found himself in the news again in September when the State Courts said that it had mistakenly imprisoned him for two extra days.

On Wednesday, the court heard that Ong was travelling on the Tampines Expressway on May 31 last year at around 8pm when a car driver abruptly cut into Ong’s lane four vehicles ahead of him.

The vehicles in front of Ong managed to stop in time.

However, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ian Ernst Chai said that Ong “failed to keep a proper lookout” and crashed into Mr Teo’s lorry in front of him, which in turn collided with a motorcycle ahead. The lorry and the motorcycle had already come to a stop at that point of time.

The motorcyclist, 26-year-old Muhammad Syafiq Shah Azman Shah, and his pillion rider, 20-year-old Aqil Danial Bin Ahmadon, were thrown to the ground.

Mr Syafiq was the only one who was injured in the crash. He was taken to Changi General Hospital in an ambulance after Ong and the victims exchanged particulars.

A medical report found that Mr Syafiq sustained several injuries to his right leg, including an open fracture and multiple complete tendon cuts. He was hospitalised for four days and given 172 days, or close to half a year, of hospitalisation leave.

The motorcycle and Mr Teo’s lorry were dented and scratched in the incident. The front of Ong’s car was crumpled, with parts of it cracked and ripped off its body. 

Ong did not make compensation for the victims’ injuries.

For causing grievous hurt by a negligent act, he could have been jailed up to two years and fined up to S$5,000.