Insufficient evidence to show driver caused death of delivery rider in road accident: Coroner report

SINGAPORE – A 28-year-old man who died of a head injury in a traffic accident three months after he got married in 2022 had worked as a food delivery rider to supplement his income, the coroner’s court revealed.

On Sept 27, 2022, Mr Samuel Seet Wei Jie had completed four deliveries and was riding his power-assisted bicycle along Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1 when he and a car collided.

The accident was not caught on any CCTVs, nor the car’s in-vehicle camera, as its memory card was corrupted.

There were also no independent witnesses, and the only person who saw the collision occur who could testify was the driver, Teo Kok Meng, now 39.

Teo’s girlfriend, who was also in the car, said she had been using her phone and did not see what happened.

The coroner’s report, dated Nov 14, noted that the Traffic Police (TP) concluded that there was insufficient evidence to show that the driver who collided with Mr Seet was responsible for the accident.

The report said Mr Seet’s cause of death was a head injury sustained in the accident.

State Coroner Adam Nakhoda said: “This accident, sadly, resulted in the death of a young father who had his entire future ahead of him. Shortly before Mr Seet’s untimely demise, he had celebrated his wedding dinner, and he was preparing to start a new career as a financial advisor.

“In the meantime, he was working as a food delivery rider as he wanted to supplement his income, undoubtedly, to ensure that he could provide for his young family before he started his new career.”

According to the coroner’s report, Mr Seet and his wife had a son.

On the night of the accident, the driver Teo had met his girlfriend and his colleague at a coffeeshop in Bukit Batok for dinner and drinks.

According to the girlfriend, Teo drank about five glasses of beer.

After their meal, Teo dropped his male colleague off at his home before heading off with his girlfriend.

Sometime after 11pm, Teo was driving from Teck Whye Crescent straight across the junction onto Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1, while Mr Seet was travelling along a slip road that merges into the avenue.

The TP officer assigned to the case said the collision occurred where the slip road merges into Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1.

Teo said Mr Seet had suddenly come out from the slip road on his left “at a very fast speed”.

Mr Seet was taken to hospital but was unresponsive, with no signs of life. He was pronounced dead after midnight on Sep 28, 2022.

The TP officer said that Teo, his girlfriend and his colleague who had been dropped off earlier were initially uncooperative about identifying who was behind the wheel when the accident occurred.

All three, including the colleague who went to the accident scene, failed their breathalyser tests at the scene.

However, when Teo had his breath alcohol tested at the Traffic Police Headquarters, his reading was 16 micrograms per 100ml of breath, which is below the legal limit of 35 micrograms.

On this, State Coroner Nakhoda said: “I did find that a considerable period had elapsed since Mr Teo claimed that he had finished drinking alcohol at 10pm on Sept 27, and when his breath alcohol test was taken at 3.25am on Sept 28.

“However, it would be speculative to state that he would have failed the breath alcohol test if it had been done earlier.”

Teo has been charged with obstructing the course of justice and giving false information to a police officer by claiming that his colleague had been driving the car instead.

Teo later admitted he was the driver.

He is expected to plead guilty to the two charges on Dec 1.

In his report, State Coroner Nakhoda emphasised that the purpose of a coroner’s inquiry is to ascertain the identity of the deceased and how, when and where he died.

He said the coroner’s court is not to determine any criminal, civil or disciplinary liability through its findings.

He added: “Having stated my findings, I wish to convey my sincere condolences to the Mr Seet’s family for their loss.”