Public Prosecutor v Lim Hock Lai

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Wong Pui Kay
• Judgment Date: 01 July 2001
• Neutral Citation: [2001] SGDC 202
• Citation: [2001] SGDC 202
• Published date: 19 September 2003
• Court: District Court (Singapore)

JUDGMENT:

I

THE CHARGE

1. The Accused was charged with one count of dangerous driving as follows:

"You,

Lim Hock Lai, Male 49 years old
NRIC: S0721282-H

are charged that you on the 29^th day of June 2000 at about 5.27 pm, along Woodlands Ave 3 Singapore, did drive motor car no EV 3666 J in a manner which is dangerous to the public having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the nature, condition and use of the road and the amount of traffic which was actually at that time or might reasonably be expected to be on the road, to wit, by failing to obey the traffic red light signal by proceeding straight across the junction of slip road of BKE causing you to collide onto motor car EJ 2012 R that was travelling along the slip road of BKE and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 64(1) of the Road Traffic Act, Chapter 276. "

2. The relevant portions of Section 64 of the Road Traffic Act ("RTA") read:

" 64. --(1) If any person drives a motor vehicle on a road recklessly, or at a speed or in a manner which is dangerous to the public, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, including the nature, condition and use of the road, and the amount of traffic which is actually at the time, or which might reasonably be expected to be, on the road, he shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $3,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both …

(2) On a second or subsequent conviction under this section, the convicting court shall exercise the power conferred by section 42 of ordering that the offender shall be disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence unless the court, having regard to the lapse of time since the date of the previous or last previous conviction or for any other special reason, thinks fit to order otherwise, but this provision shall not be construed as affecting the right of the court to exercise the power aforesaid on a first conviction. "

II

THE VERDICT

3. After a one-day trial, I found the Accused guilty and convicted him accordingly. I sentenced him to a fine of $3,000 and disqualification from all classes of driving licences for a period of 2 years. The Accused has appealed against the sentence imposed on him.

III THE ISSUE IN DISPUTE

4. As the accident occurred at a traffic junction, the Accused and the driver of the other car ("PW4") blamed each other for beating a red light traffic signal at their respective traffic junctions, thereby causing the collision between their 2 cars.

IV

THE PROSECUTION’S CASE

[PW1’s Evidence]

5. The Prosecution called a total of 5 witnesses. PW1, Cheng Mei Chun was an independent eye-witness. PW1’s car and PW4’s car were travelling on the same slip road prior to the accident. The crux of her evidence was that as...