Delivery driver Koh Boon Ping was jailed 12 weeks and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for five years for the accident along BKE on 11 March 2017. Photo: Screen shot from YouTube

He drove into a motorcycle parked under a flyover along Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) before he panicked, stepped on the accelerator and careened into eight motorcyclists who were sheltering from the rain.

Two men died from the impact and six others, aged 21 to 53, sustained injuries such as fractures on their neck and ribs from the 11 March accident last year. All the victims were Malaysians.

Delivery driver Koh Boon Ping, a 25-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for five years by District Judge Mathew Joseph on Tuesday (3 April).

Koh pleaded guilty to one count of causing the death of two men, 50-year-old Loke Whay Mam and 34-year-old Lim Chun Hong, and another of grievously hurting the five motorcyclists due to negligent driving. A third count of causing hurt to a sixth man, who suffered from less serious injuries, was taken into consideration for sentencing.

A viral video circulated online in the aftermath of the accident showed debris strewn along the road and several men lying motionless on the ground.

At the time of the incident, Koh, who was also a sales promoter, was driving a delivery van which belonged to his employer. His job involved delivering household items to various stalls around Singapore.

On 11 March, Koh began heading to his stall in Woodlands at around 1.30pm. He was driving along the extreme right lane of the Seletar Expressway at around 3.50pm when he entered a slip road bending left that led to the BKE in the direction of Woodlands Checkpoint.

Shortly after navigating the left bend, Koh entered an area under the flyover when he lost control of the van, which veered to the left of the road shoulder as he was accelerating.

The eight motorcyclists were under the flyover taking shelter from the rain when Koh collided into a stationary motorcycle underneath the flyover.

Panicking, Koh stepped on the accelerator, causing the van to surge forward and plough into the eight motorcyclists. The van only stopped after a motorcycle became lodged under it. Loke and Lim were pronounced dead at the scene.

Five other men suffered from multiple fractures while one man sustained abrasions on his upper torso and bruises on his left thigh.

Koh’s lawyer Jayakumar Naidu said that as a result of the accident, his client was diagnosed with Acute Stress reaction and suffers from a depressed mood daily as he keeps thinking of the victims who died, said the lawyer.

“(Koh) is a responsible man with no past records. He (had) a momentary lapse of control due to panic and he is not recalcitrant,” said Jayakumar.

The lawyer sought a sentence of 10 to 12 weeks’ jail, while the prosecution asked for at least 12 weeks’ jail and a disqualification period of five years.