A 66-year-old man sneezed while driving and lost control of his car along Lorong 1 Toa Payoh yesterday afternoon. The car crashed into a road divider and the impact dislodged a lamp post, causing it to nearly topple over. Debris was strewn over two lanes of the road.

Mr Abdul Rahman Hassan, who is unemployed, told The Straits Times (ST) that he was on his way to pick up his three-year-old granddaughter from a kindergarten in Upper Thomson Road when the accident occurred near Braddell MRT station at around 12.40pm.

In response to queries from ST, the police said it was alerted to an accident involving a car in Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, in the direction of Lorong 6 Toa Payoh.

Mr Abdul Rahman's blue Subaru Impreza was badly damaged, but he was unhurt. No other cars were involved. He said: "I sneezed loudly and then realised I had hit the divider and lamp post. I was not scared. Accidents happen. Anyway, my car needs to be scrapped next year. If I can't repair it, I will just scrap it."

A cobbler in his 60s, who wanted to be known only as Mr Yong, said he heard a loud screech, followed by a bang. "I didn't see the collision, but I was shocked by the crash, as it was very loud. Many people were curious and went to take a look."

Sales executive Muhammad Hafiz Khamzah, 21, was making a U-turn at the road junction when he heard a loud crash. "It was so scary when I heard the crash, but luckily the uncle is okay," he said.

Workers arrived on the scene with a crane at about 1.45pm, after a brief downpour, to replace the damaged lamp post. It was removed from the site at about 2.10pm. The crane left soon after.

By around 4pm, tow services had arrived to move the car and remove debris from the road. Officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force were also spotted washing the road. Police investigations are ongoing.

• Additional reporting by Alvin Ho