SINGAPORE - A 20-year-old student was on Tuesday (June 14) given a short detention order of 10 days and banned from driving for four years for causing the death of a passenger in his lorry.
Syed Oli Bathushah Habeb Rehman pleaded guilty to a charge of causing the death of Mr Manoharan Ramki, 23, through a negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide.
Oli Bathushah had failed to control his lorry along Yishun Avenue 1, causing it to crash into a lamp post and a tree at about 4.50am on May 3 last year.
At the time, he was studying at Singapore Polytechnic and working part-time with KSV AVL Pte Ltd, an events management company.
A district court heard that after he had ended work near Yishun at about 4.30am that day, Oli Bathushah offered to drop Mr Manoharan, a Singapore permanent resident from India, and two construction workers from India off at their dormitory near Tai Seng using his company's lorry.
Mr Manoharan and the two workers sat in the back seats of the lorry, while Oli Bathushah's colleague and another person sat in the two front passenger seats.
The front passengers wore seat belts, but the rear passengers did not.
While along Yishun Avenue 1, Oli Bathushah drove in the centre lane of the three-lane road. But as he was negotiating a gradual right bend along the road, he failed to properly control the lorry.
At the time, the weather was fine, but the road surface was wet after heavy rain.
Oli Bathushah lost control of the vehicle and it veered to the left side of the road.
The lorry mounted the left road kerb and crashed into a lamp post and a tree before coming to a complete stop.
The impact left the vehicle's front cabin crumpled, while its rear cabin was ripped off.
Mr Manoharan was taken to hospital unconscious, but died from his injuries at about 11.45am that day.
The four other passengers were also taken to hospital. One had a broken ankle and a spinal fracture, while another had broken ribs and spinal fractures.
The maximum punishment for causing death by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide is two years' jail and a fine.
