Vittorio Luigi Roveda v Singapore Bus Service (1978) Ltd and Another

• Jurisdiction: Singapore
• Judge: Lim Teong Qwee JC
• Judgment Date: 19 May 1997
• Neutral Citation: [1997] SGHC 130
• Court: High Court (Singapore)
• Published date: 13 February 2013
• Year: 1997
• Plaintiff Counsel: Sebastian J P Quek and Janice Wu,Choo Kwun Kiat
• Defendant Counsel: Benedict Chan Tuck Kiang,Cheong Li-Ann
• Citation: [1997] SGHC 130

Judgment:

GROUNDS OF JUDGMENT

1. On 14 August 1993 at about 11.05pm there was a collision between a motorcycle driven by Vittorio Luigi Roveda and a bus driven by Wong Thiam Fatt. Dr Roveda and his pillion passenger Joseph Ng Choon Hian were seriously injured and they have brought these two actions to recover damages.

2. In Suit No 1021 of 1994 Dr Roveda is the plaintiff and Mr Wong and his then employer the bus company are the defendants. In Suit No 988 of 1995 Mr Ng is the plaintiff and Dr Roveda is a defendant in addition to the other two. I heard Suit No 1021 of 1994 first and it was agreed at the commencement that the evidence given in this action could be used in the other.

3. The accident happened at the junction of Commonwealth Ave West (southbound) and Clementi Ave 3. Clementi Ave 3 is to the east and is joined to Clementi Ave 4 which is to the west by a link road. The link road passes under an MRT railway. Commonwealth Ave West is a dual carriageway and the southbound carriageway is separated from the northbound carriageway by the MRT railway above. There are three lanes on each of the northbound and southbound carriageways of Commonwealth Ave West. Clementi Ave 4, the link road and Clementi Ave 3 are single carriageways and there are two lanes on each side. The junction is controlled by traffic lights and on the night in question the traffic lights were operating properly. It was a clear night and the roads were dry. Dr Roveda described the traffic as light in his affidavit and Mr Wong also said it was light in his police report made the morning after the accident.

4. Dr Roveda was travelling along Commonwealth Ave West (southbound). He said in his affidavit that as he was approaching the junction he was in the outermost lane. He was in the third lane counting from the left. He said he noticed that the traffic lights were green in his favour. Continuing he said:

"Just as I was crossing the said junction, suddenly I saw a flash of light on my right.

Before I knew it, I was hit on my right side causing me to lose control of my motorcycle. I lost consciousness immediately; I did not know what hit me."

It is not disputed that it was the bus that, as he said, hit him.

5. Mr Wong was travelling along the northbound carriageway of Commonwealth Ave West. At its junction with the link road he turned right intending to proceed across the southbound carriageway into Clementi Ave 3. He said in his affidavit that when he completed the right turn the traffic lights showed red against him and so he stopped the bus. He said:

"After some time, the lights turned green and I started moving across the junction ....

Just as the bus pulled beyond the stop line and commenced crossing the mouth of Commonwealth Avenue West, I saw a motorcycle travelling at a fast speed coming from my left along Commonwealth Avenue West ....

On seeing the motorcycle, I immediately jammed on my brakes. As I said, I was travelling slowly, and in jamming my brakes I managed to bring my bus to a complete stop, thus avoiding a direct impact with the motorcycle. When my bus was thus stationary, the motorcycle was crossing it's own stop line. It could not avoid my stationary bus and it grazed the front of the bus, lost control and fell."

6. It is not disputed that after the impact the motorcycle fell on its side and came to a stop near the grass verge on the first lane across the junction. The agreed sketch plan shows two parallel lines of scratch marks about 22.6 m long from approximately the second lane on Commonwealth Ave West (southbound) between the first and second lanes on the link road and Clementi Ave 3 to the edge of the first lane on Commonwealth Ave West (southbound). The agreed vehicle damage reports and photographs show quite clearly that one point of contact was between the right side of the motorcycle in way of the end of the exhaust pipe and the front of the bus to the right of centre. It is also not in dispute that shortly after the accident Mr Wong moved the bus.

Movement of the bus

7. Mr Wong said in his affidavit that he alighted from his bus and went to where Dr Roveda and Mr Ng were. He said:

"Meanwhile, my bus was blocking traffic in the junction and motorcyclists were honkering (sic) incessantly. So, I got onto my bus and drove it into the Interchange. The Officer at the interchange informed me that I was not supposed to move the bus. So I drove it back to the scene of the accident, where I parked it at the spot I thought it was before I drove it away."

The interchange was only a short distance away off Clementi Ave 3.

8. Under cross-examination Mr Wong said that after helping the injured persons he looked in the direction of his bus and then heard "other motorists behind my bus sounding horn". He said:

"Q: Behind?

A: Along Link Rd behind bus and also along Commonwealth Ave West.

Q: Link Rd. Two lanes. Bus blocking only lane 'A1-D1'?

(Note: 'A1' and 'D1' are the left and right edges of the first lane. Lane 'A1-D1' is the first lane.)

A: Yes.

Q: Traffic free to move along 'D1-C1'?

(Note: 'D1' and 'C1' are the left and right edges of the second lane. Lane 'D1-C1' is the second lane.)

A: Yes.

Q: 'P', 'Q', 'L' on Commonwealth Ave West. Bus blocking lane 'N-P'?

(Note: 'L' and 'N' are the left and right edges of the road. 'Q' is the right edge of the first lane and 'P' is the right edge of the second lane. Lane 'N-P' is the third lane.)

A: Yes.

Q: Other 2 lanes free?

A: Yes."

9. Mr Suhaimi bin Sue'b is a police investigation officer. On the night of the accident he was with the Clementi Neighbourhood Police Post. He was on night patrol on his bicycle when he received information about the accident from a taxi driver. He said that he arrived at the scene at about 11.09pm. He and his colleague were the first police officers on the scene. He said in his affidavit:

"Throughout the time I was at the scene of the accident, despite the accident, there was no interruption to the flow of the traffic and my colleague and I did not have to do any traffic control at all. Neither did I see any of the traffic police officers who arrived later having to control the traffic as the traffic was becoming very light by then."

If the bus was in the link road and remained there at any time when Mr Suhaimi was at the scene it was not blocking traffic to such an extent that traffic control was thought to be required of the police officers.

10. The bus was blocking only one of the two lanes in the link road and one of the three lanes in the southbound carriageway of Commonwealth Ave West if I accepted what Mr Wong said. There would have been ample room for vehicles to pass. Mr Wong himself had described the traffic as "light" in his police report. He said "motorcyclists were honkering incessantly" and so he got into his bus and drove it away. I do not believe this. Interference with the flow of traffic would have been insignificant and traffic was light. It is quite unlikely that motorists would have been using the horn and much less likely motorcyclists as Mr Wong claimed.

11. Mr Wong moved the bus. That is not disputed. He did not drive it to the interchange for the reason that it was blocking traffic and motorcyclists were "honkering" incessantly as he claimed. He had been driving a bus for another bus company for two years before being employed by the defendant bus company. He had been taught what to do in the event of a serious accident. He would have known that in the circumstances of the accident that night he should not have moved the bus

12. Mr Suhaimi also said in his affidavit:

"At about 11.20 pm, a Mr Rosli Bin Habit claimed to have witnessed the accident and I took down his particulars. Then a Chinese man by the name of Mr Wong Thiam Fatt informed me that he was involved in the accident as well. He claimed to be the driver of an SBS bus. I then noticed a stationary SBS bus at the Link Road facing Clementi Avenue 3."

It is not disputed that Mr Wong gave his particulars to Mr Suhaimi.

13. Under cross-examination Mr Suhaimi said that when he arrived at the scene the bus was at the junction facing Clementi Ave 3. Later he said he did not notice the bus at the scene when he arrived. He explained to the court that when he arrived he did not notice the bus and that after he had interviewed Mr Rosli and Mr Wong had come up to him he then noticed the bus.

14. In his affidavit Mr Suhaimi also said:

"... although the SBS bus driver could have reversed the bus without my noticing it, there was no way the SBS bus driver could have driven the bus away from the scene of the accident without my noticing it."

Under cross-examination he said he did not see the bus being reversed nor did he see it being driven away.

15. Mr Wong did not drive the bus away when Mr Suhaimi was at the scene. That is quite clear and I find accordingly. Mr Suhaimi did not see the bus being reversed although Mr Wong could have reversed it before he arrived or even while he was at the scene without him noticing. If the bus was left where it was at the time of the accident when Mr Suhaimi arrived it is more likely that he would have noticed it. It would have been quite apparent to him that it was involved in the accident. I think it is more likely that Mr Wong moved the bus before Mr Suhaimi arrived. Either he reversed it which he could have done very quickly or he drove it away and brought it back after Mr Suhaimi had arrived without him noticing it.

16. Sgt Vijaya Kumary is from Traffic Police. She was informed of the accident and was at the scene at about 15 minutes after midnight. On arrival she met Mr Suhaimi and his colleague. She sent for a police photographer and he arrived at about 1.45am. Sgt Kumary said that when she arrived at the scene the bus was in the position as shown in an agreed photograph at AB-360. In the course of her investigation at the scene she was informed by Mr Suhaimi that the bus had been moved.

17. Mr Wong said he took three...