In January, a man driving a GetGo car crashed into a bus at a road junction in Yishun.
This unfortunately resulted in his death and injuries suffered by seven bus passengers.
It has been established that the man had taken drugs before the accident.
The GetGo driver was identified as Mr Alvin Wong Mun Loong, a Coroner’s Inquiry revealed on Monday (10 July), reported The Straits Times (ST).
The 31-year-old was reportedly a known drug addict who had been charged over previous drug offences.
For those offences, he was sentenced to drug rehabilitation for 12 months and released in March 2022.
He was supposed to be on drug supervision for 16 months from then but had stopped going for urine tests at the time of the accident.
Additionally, Mr Wong misused the identity of a stranger so he could rent a vehicle from GetGo, a car-sharing firm.
This was because he didn’t have a valid driver’s licence, a police investigation officer said.
No mention was made as to how Mr Wong managed to get the stranger’s identity.
On 13 Jan, the night of the accident, Mr Wong drove the black GetGo car along Yishun Central towards Yishun Avenue 3.
Dashcam footage posted on the SG Road Vigilante Facebook page showed an SBS Transit double-decker bus — service 117 — travelling along Yishun Avenue 2.
At 10.50pm, as it approached the junction with Yishun Central, the GetGo car rammed head-first into the side of the bus.
Source: SG Road Vigilante on Facebook
Both vehicles recoiled from the impact of the collision, with the bus jolting to a stop next to the traffic light.
The clip later showed that the traffic light along Yishun Avenue 2 was green, signalling that the bus had the right of way.
The inquiry heard that Mr Wong had run the red light, and the lack of tire brake marks at the scene indicated that he had no intention to slow down at the junction.
However, the police couldn’t determine if he was speeding. They don’t suspect foul play.
As a result of the accident, the GetGo car appeared to be completely smashed, with debris strewn across the road.
Mr Wong was trapped in the driver’s seat, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told MS News.
They had to use hydraulic rescue equipment to free him.
Photos circulated over social media showed captured SCDF officers crowding around the car’s wreckage, presumably trying to extricate him.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
After being removed from the vehicle, he was taken to hospital unconscious, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Besides Mr Wong, seven bus passengers were also injured.
Paramedics conveyed six of them, aged between 22 and 40, to the hospital.
The seventh passenger was also injured but wasn’t sent to hospital.
The bus driver reportedly told the police that some passengers fell from their bus seats, suffering bruises on their limbs.
Drug apparatus was found in the GetGo car Mr Wong drove.
During the autopsy on his body, traces of three different drugs — Ecstasy, methamphetamine and amphetamine — were found.
Painkillers and sedatives were also detected, ST reported.
The drug combination could have caused cognitive impairment, affecting his ability to drive safely, the court heard.
Mr Wong’s wife, who was informed of his passing, told the police that he was on the run from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
She last heard from him four days before the accident, when he sent her an apology message over Instagram.
The couple had not lived together since December 2022.
However, he did not have any suicidal thoughts, Mrs Wong said.
Her husband had no driving licence yet as he started learning to drive in August 2022.
MS News extends our sincere condolences to Mr Wong’s loved ones.
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Featured image adapted from SG Road Vigilante on Facebook and Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
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