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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/negligent-drivers-who/1345462.html?cid=FBSG Finally, stiffer laws for negligent driving that causes death

what do you guys think of this development? i personally feel that it's a change in the positive direction, considering the gravity of the consequence, i.e. death. having said that, it's fair to say that there'll also be those situations where, e.g. the jaywalker's gross negligence may be the primary cause of his/her own death and it has to be then investigated and proven in court. p/s - a car cam is becoming more important - i got to stop procrastinating and get the damn thing installed. ------------------------------------------ Court: No more default fines for negligent drivers 20/05/2014 on mypaper http://news.omy.sg/News/Local-News/story20140520-264376 A SPECIAL court of three judges, led by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, yesterday overthrew a longstanding sentencing practice of imposing fines for causing death by negligent driving. "It is important to signal to other drivers that they must be mindful of the terrible risks they take upon themselves and other road users when they drive when not fit to do so," said CJ Menon. The court made the ruling as it allowed the prosecution's appeal and handed down a four-week jail term to 27-year-old Hue An Li, a sleep-deprived driver who crashed her car into a lorry carrying foreign workers in March last year. The impact caused all nine workers seated in the back to be flung out, killing one on the spot. Last September, Hue, a casino surveillance officer, pleaded guilty to causing death by a negligent act and was fined the maximum $10,000 and banned from driving for five years. The prosecution appealed to the High Court, arguing that she should be jailed for her "gross negligence" in driving after she had not slept in 24 hours. Under the law, the offence carries a jail term of up to two years, or a fine, or both. But, generally, the courts have imposed fines. In a 1993 case, former CJ Yong Pung How ruled that if death was caused by a negligent act, a fine would suffice in most cases. In Hue's case, the district judge, explaining why he gave her a fine instead of jail, cited the 2012 case of Ng Jui Chuan, who fell asleep at the wheel and hit an elderly couple in Upper Thomson Road in November 2009. Mr Ng's $9,500 fine was upheld by a High Court judge, who said that driving when one is tired or sleepy is not an offence, but might be one if it had been proved that the tired driver knew he would likely fall asleep at the wheel, and yet drove. But, yesterday, CJ Menon said these cases have to be viewed with caution and that the sentencing precedents were "unreliable". He noted that the law was redrafted in 2008. After this, he said, there was no basis to continue on the premise that when death was caused by negligence, the default sentence is a fine. As for the case of Mr Ng, CJ Menon said this should not be seen as an appropriate sentencing precedent as the remarks of the High Court were in the context of the line between a rash and a negligent act. The appeal, heard yesterday by the Chief Justice, Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Judicial Commissioner Tan Siong Thye, was the first magistrate's appeal presided over by three judges instead of the usual one judge. [email protected]

SINGAPORE: Celebrity chef Melvyn Lee Shang Bin, host of "Accidental Chef" which was telecast on Channel NewsAsia, was charged on Monday with a negligent act that killed a motorcyclist. Lee, 24, allegedly failed to control his car properly when he was driving along the East Coast Parkway towards Ayer Rajah Expressway at 6pm on 18 October 2009. His vehicle is said to have veered towards the left, hitting a car in the middle lane. Lee's car allegedly veered one more time, went over the centre median and ended up facing the vehicles heading in the opposite direction towards Changi Airport. In that process, the car allegedly hit a motorcyclist, 26-year-old Muhammad Farhan Kassim, who later succumbed to his injuries and died in hospital. Lee is also accused of causing hurt to 43-year-old secretary, Tan Siew Keam, the front seat passenger of the first car he hit. Lee will be back in court on 18 April. If convicted of causing Mr Muhammad Farhan's death, he could be jailed up to two years, fined or both. - CNA/ir i wonder whether he was under influence of alcohol or drugs.....or too sleepy?....or else how to veer fr left to right n end up face opp dir traffic?!?!

http://www.straitstimes.com/Free/Sto...ry_223845.html JI MAN MAS SELAMAT'S ESCAPE Guards were negligent, says MM His message: Those who think nothing can go wrong are being complacent By Sue-Ann Chia & Goh Chin Lian FUGITIVE Mas Selamat Kastari was 'an escape artist' who had evaded arrest many times, and Singapore's security officers knew this, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said yesterday. Yet, the Jemaah Islamiah terrorist leader was able to lull his minders at the Whitley Road Detention Centre into believing that they had him under control, before he gave them the slip. 'When you are complacent in handling a wily detainee, then you have been negligent,' Mr Lee told The Straits Times in an e-mail interview. He responded to questions on the issue of complacency for today's Insight feature which takes off from his earlier comments on Mas Selamat's disappearance. He said last month that the break-out was a 'very severe lesson in complacency'. Mas Selamat, 47, who had planned to crash a plane into Changi Airport, escaped from Internal Security Department custody on Feb 27. He is still on the run. The Government has promised a full account of how he escaped, after a three-member panel completes its investigations. In answering questions posed by The Straits Times, Mr Lee addressed the issue of complacency among citizens, saying: 'Anyone who believes nothing can or will go wrong in Singapore is living in a make-believe world.' He said Singaporeans are being complacent when they believe that the Government will take care of all security matters. MPs and political observers interviewed for the Insight feature said decades of peace and prosperity could have caused some Singaporeans to believe the Government had everything under control and nothing could go wrong. How did complacency creep in? Some observers like former MP Augustine Tan blamed indifference or lack of understanding of the Government's workings. Others felt the Government was partly to blame. People's Action Party MP Lim Wee Kiak called complacency a 'side-effect' of an overly successful Government and civil service. 'This has bred a dependency mentality in our population who will blame the civil service and Government if any of their needs are not met,' he noted. But MM Lee disagreed that the Government deserved to be blamed. He said: 'Complacency sets in when a people have not suffered any shock or setback for a long time.' Hence, his warnings against complacency over the years, 'because most people believe that bad things will happen to others, not to themselves'. [email protected] so does the MM believe bad things may happen to him also?