Singaporean driver charged in Johor over motorcyclist’s death in Second Link accident

A Singaporean driver was charged in a Malaysian court on May 15 with allegedly causing the death of a motorcyclist after he made an illegal U-turn on the Second Link highway in Johor on May 9.

Muhammad Irsyad Abdul Hameed, 27, pleaded not guilty at the Johor Bahru Magistrate’s Court before Magistrate Nur Fatin Mohamad Farid, Malaysian media reported.

Muhammad Irsyad is accused of driving the vehicle, a Maserati, dangerously, resulting in the death of Mr A. Vasanthraj, 32, at the 0.6km mark of the expressway on the evening of May 9.

He was charged under Section 41(1) of the Road Transport Act with causing death by reckless or dangerous driving.

If found guilty, Muhammad Irsyad can be jailed for up to 10 years and face a maximum fine of RM50,000 (S$15,200).

Muhammad Irsyad, who is a public officer, was represented by lawyers Baharudin Bahrim and Zarina Ismail Tom.

The lawyers requested that the court return his passport, and gave assurance that the Singaporean will cooperate in the ongoing investigation.

However, the court set bail at RM12,000 and directed Muhammad Irsyad to report to the nearest police station once a month.

His driving licence has also been suspended until the case is concluded, reported The Star.

The next hearing is set for June 10.

In response to ST’s query, a spokesman for Infocomm Media Development Authority said on May 16: “As the matter is before the Malaysian courts, we are unable to comment further.”

The accident, which went viral on social media, saw

the red Maserati smashing into a metal barrier

while making the U-turn at an opening in the road divider of the Second Link highway.

The impact sent shards of the barrier onto the road, triggering a four-vehicle crash.

Mr Vasanthraj died after crashing into a part of the barrier that had been dislodged from the road divider, said the Iskandar Puteri district police in a media statement on May 10.

Several road users attacked the Maserati driver with helmets before police arrived at the scene, according to the police statement.

A video uploaded onto the SG Road Vigilante Facebook page, which had garnered more than 380,000 views as at 6pm on May 10, shows several motorcyclists shouting while surrounding the car and hitting it with their helmets.

In subsequent images of the viral video, the car can be seen with a shattered windscreen and a damaged bonnet.

The Second Link highway, which connects Malaysia and Singapore, is a key artery for cross-border traffic, connecting Singapore’s Tuas Checkpoint to the Malaysian state of Johor.

It stretches for about 2km over the Strait of Johor and serves as one of the main routes for vehicles travelling between the two countries.