Chean Tuck Heng said he knew the way and that the pool was merely rainwater.
SINGAPORE: A Gojek driver who drove into a condominium swimming pool with an elderly passenger in his car was jailed for two weeks on Friday (Sep 22).
Chean Tuck Heng, a 67-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty to one count of a rash act endangering human life with machinery.
He had driven for up to 60m down the wrong path towards the swimming pool, ignoring instructions from a security guard and his own passenger, saying that he knew the way and that the pool was merely "rainwater".
The court heard that Chean had accepted a Gojek booking at about 8pm on Feb 28 this year. The booking was made by the granddaughter of the passenger, a 79-year-old woman.
Chean picked up the passenger from Sengkang and drove her to The Hillside condominium along Upper Bukit Timah Road, where it was raining.
The passenger's granddaughter had indicated in her booking to take the first right turn after the security guardhouse to reach the drop-off location.
When Chean arrived at The Hillside condominium, a security officer told him to make a right turn at the first junction.
However, Chean drove past it. He also told the security officer that he "knew the way" and that he intended to turn right at a later junction.
Chean eventually made a turn and went onto a tiled pedestrian walkway, running over some potted plants. His Honda Vezel was partially on the grass.
At this point, the passenger said he had missed the turn, but Chean did not respond to her.
Another security guard told Chean that he had driven into an area where vehicles were not allowed, and that he was near the swimming pool.
He told Chean to reverse onto the main road but the Gojek driver saw some tables and chairs on the tiled walkway and wanted to go around them to make a three-point turn.
He claimed that it was "rainwater" and not the swimming pool.
Chean then drove forward, with the front tyres of his car entering the pool, before finally stopping.
There was no one in the 0.5m-deep pool at the time, and the passenger exited from her passenger door, unharmed.
The security supervisor called the police.
As a result of Chean's rash driving, three flower pots were broken and damage was caused to the steps near the wading pool as well as several tiles.
The condominium management paid about S$615 (US$450) to repair the damaged fixtures.
The prosecutor sought two to four weeks' jail, saying Chean had acted with a "high degree of rashness", driving onto a narrow tiled walkway obviously not meant for traffic.
He had ignored the security officers' instructions, the victim's direction as well the environmental cues.
While no one was actually injured, the passenger and any passing pedestrians could have been injured, and property damage was caused, said the prosecutor.
Chean, who had previously objected to many points in the statement of facts in a previous hearing, had nothing to say this time.
The judge said such acts of driving rashly must be deterred.
Addressing Chean, he said: "I hope that in future, if you do drive, you are much more careful when you drive."
For a rash act endangering human life with machinery, Chean could have been jailed for up to a year, fined up to S$5,000, or both.
Source from Channel News Asia
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