Thai teen vs SMRT, LTA: Ang Mo Kio station not reasonably safe, says teen's lawyer
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If there had been barriers or interim barriers in place at Ang Mo Kio MRT station, Thai teenager Nitcharee Peneakchanasak, would not have fallen onto the tracks and lost both her legs, said lawyer Mr Cosmas Gomez, who is representing the Thai teen.
In his closing statements on Monday morning, Mr Gomez sought to prove that Ang Mo Kio MRT station was not reasonably safe at the time of the accident on April 3, 2011. The teen is seeking $3.4 million in damages from SMRT and the Land Transport Authority.
Judicial Commissioner Vinodh Coomaraswamy then highlighted that the accident rate at MRT stations has been low with trillions of passenger trips since the station was built in the 1980s, which was considered reasonably safe at that time. "When did it become unreasonably unsafe?" the judge asked Mr Gomez.
Mr Gomez replied that it was since 2009. He then continued to blame the defendants for not having done anything to reduce such accidents. Mr Gomez spent an hour on his closing submission which started at 10am on Monday, after which Mr K. Anparasan of KhattarWong, who is representing both SMRT and LTA, took over. The case will wrap up on Monday after 15 days of testimony by 13 witnesses previously.
