SINGAPORE – The traffic was light along Old Choa Chu Kang Road on the evening of Oct 24, 2018, and Johnny Teo Tien Huat assumed that it would have been safe for him to cut across three lanes to make a right turn into Track 14.

But the 52-year-old failed to check his blind spot, and did not notice that his car had encroached into the lane of motorcyclist Kanaprathab Jagadesan.

Jagadesan’s motorcycle collided into Teo’s car and he died.

On Wednesday (Jan 8), Teo pleaded guilty to the rash act and was sentenced by a district court to six months’ jail. 

He will also be disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for eight years from the date of his release.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Koh Mun Keong, who had sought a jail term of eight months and a driving disqualification period of 10 years, said the accident was needless.

“If the accused had taken proper care to check for oncoming traffic, it wouldn’t have happened,” he said.

Mr Koh played a video taken from the dashboard camera of Teo’s car that showed the moments leading up to the accident. The road was dry, visibility was clear and there were few vehicles around that night.

Teo, who was travelling towards Lim Chu Kang along Old Choa Chu Kang Road at around 9pm, had stopped his car on the extreme left of the three-lane road just before Track 14.

It was not stated why he had stopped there. The video showed that Teo then made an almost perpendicular turn into Track 14 and was about to cross into the opposite direction of Old Choa Chu Kang Road when Jagadesan, 33, collided into the right side of Teo’s car and flew over his bonnet.

“The front right of Teo’s car was completely wrecked,” said Mr Koh. “The motorcycle was also completely wrecked.”

According to court documents, no mechanical defects were detected in either vehicle.

Jagadesan had been travelling on the centre lane at a speed which forensic scientists estimated to be in the range of 65 km/h to 107 km/h.

Explaining why the range is so wide, Mr Koh said the estimate was based on the video, which had limitations. Lighting was poor, the resolution of the video was low and it was not possible to estimate the distance of the motorcycle from the car.

The collision left Jagadesan with multiple abrasions to his legs and injuries to his chest. Paramedics found him semi-prone, with his helmet intact.

He had no pulse and was not breathing, so cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) had to be administered.

At the hospital, he was intubated and given four doses of adrenalin throughout the CPR. Eventually, a decision was made to stop at around 9.55pm that night, due to “prolonged downtime and medical futility”.

During the mitigation plea for Teo, who stood looking forlorn during the entire proceeding, defence lawyer Beverly Lim said that her client regretted his actions and was willing to take responsibility for it.

“He’s very remorseful over this accident,” she said. “He hasn’t been able to eat or sleep since the accident.”

As District Judge Ong Luan Tze passed her sentence, she turned to Teo and said: “I hope the conclusion of this case will give you some closure.”

For causing death through a rash act, Teo could have been jailed up to five years, fined, or both.