Amidst all the commotion and uproar in the wake of the PMD ban, one thing remains clear.
There are some errant PMD riders around, and this cannot be denied. Which is why the government had to take firm action and implement the ban, lest more pedestrians get injured.
Here, take a look at this video and you’d understand:
Of course, this certainly isn’t true for all PMD riders, but there are black sheep around and this case is certainly one of them:
PMD Rider Jailed After Crashing Into 6YO & Causing Brief Deafness At Punggol PCN
A rider of a Personal Mobility Device (PMD) was sentenced to five days in jail yesterday (7 November).
The man in question, Neo Wei Chia, 42, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing grievous hurt by a negligent act.
He admitted that he failed to keep a proper lookout while riding his e-scooter at Punggol park Connector along Upper Serangoon Road during the accident which occurred last year, on 12 April 2018.
The court was told that Neo was riding his device “speedily” on the right side of the park connector at around 6.30pm that fateful day.
The Incident
So what actually happened?
Well, the boy was riding pillion on the back of a bicycle with his grandmother in front.
Upon nearing the Riversails condominium where they live, he told his grandmother that he wanted to get off the bicycle. The child then ran along the path as the grandmother continued to ride the bicycle.
According to Deputy Public Prosecutor R Arvindren, Neo had a clear view of the path that the boy was running on. However, he still failed to slow down.
All of a sudden, the boy dashed to the left side of the part connector to the right.
Pretty sure all of us know what happens next.
Neo wasn’t careful and “didn’t keep a proper lookout for him”, thus by the time he realised that the boy was in front of his e-scooter, he wasn’t able to stop.
He pressed his emergency brakes but it was no use and he crashed into the boy from behind.
Both of them fell down and was injured. The boy was found to be bleeding from his left ear.
His grandmother rushed to the boy while Neo waited with him.
Well, at least he didn’t try to run away.
The Boy Suffered Fractures And Brief Hearing Loss
They were rushed to the hospital where the boy was found to have suffered fractures and multiple abrasions on his shoulder, arm and knee.
He also had a laceration on his ear and suffered temporary hearing loss. As a result, he was given 14 days of hospitalisation leave.
Neo, on the other hand, suffered less severe injuries. He had abrasions on his elbows, fingers and knee.
Initially, the prosecution was vying for one week of jail, pointing out that there was a need for pedestrian safety.
The Sentence Is A Form Of Deterrence For Other Errant PMD Riders
According to the prosecutor, incidents of PMD riders knocking down “helpless pedestrians” are prevalent and thus:
“There must be a sufficient measure of deterrence to ensure that PMD users who share the same space as pedestrians take extra care to ensure that they are doing so in a lawful and safe manner.”
To give him some credit, Neo did try to compensate for the boy’s injuries. However, the family told him that they would be making claims from their own insurers.
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If anything good came out of this incident at all, it’s the fact that the boy has since recovered from his injuries and hearing loss.
Phew. We definitely hope that such cases will no longer be “prevalent”.
