Cyclist jailed a week over collision with jogger who suffered serious injuries
SINGAPORE: A man who was cycling at East Coast Park failed to see a jogger in front of him and crashed into her, causing her to suffer serious fractures with neurological consequences.
Edmund Kwek Jun Wei, 34, was given a week's jail on Friday (Jun 20), after he pleaded guilty to a charge of causing grievous hurt through a negligent act.
The incident happened in the early morning of Oct 22, 2024.
At around 6.20am, Kwek was riding at about 22kmh along a cycling path with a speed limit of 25kmh. The lights were still lit.
Kwek was looking down at one point and failed to see the jogger, 48-year-old Tan Jo-Ann. When he looked up, he saw Ms Tan's back before colliding into her.
Kwek was flung off his bicycle, while Ms Tan fell to the ground. When Kwek attended to the victim, she was unable to respond to his questions.
He called for emergency services.
Ms Tan was taken to Changi General Hospital where she was found to have serious injuries, including fractures on her right skull, the base of the skull and a possible fracture behind her nose.
She was discharged on Nov 6, 2024, 16 days later.
The injuries affected her sense of smell, taste and left ear hearing, and Ms Tan reported experiencing vertigo when bending forward.
An examination showed that she had partial hearing loss in her left ear. Her sense of smell was still lacking as of January this year.
Ms Tan attended around 19 sessions of speech therapy until March this year and her speech has improved, with no residual motor deficits, court documents stated.
Kwek's lawyer Bozy Lu from Han & Lu Law Chambers told the court that her client had been training for a marathon when the incident occurred.
Ms Lu said Kwek tried to offer compensation to Ms Tan, but she declined.
The defence lawyer added in mitigation that Kwek was remorseful and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity he had.
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