Malaysian Driver Jailed Over Fatal Bicycle Accident In 2017
Malaysian Driver Jailed Over Fatal Bicycle Accident In
2017
There is a recent judgement made by the Magistrate
Court Johor Bahru regarding the “Basikal Lajak” case. The respondent who was
convicted with a charge of reckless driving that resulted in the death of eight
cyclists on 18th of February 2017. Some of the public had said that
the respondent should be responsible for the death of the eight cyclists. Thus,
questioning the courts’ earlier decision on discharging the respondent and
consider the judgement not fair for the eight cyclists (Singh, 2022).
Brief viewpoints from different
perspectives
As
for the law perspective on this issue, based on the Section 41(1) of the Road
Transport Act 1987, the court ruled that the driver did not violate the speed
limit, and neither was she driving under the influence of other substances such
as alcohol or drugs. She was also not recklessly driving while using her phone.
It is undeniable that the respondent caused the eight cyclists’ death. However,
the fault is also on the eight cyclists who were riding bicycles on the highway
in the middle of the night. They should have been aware on the consequences
that their actions caused. From the view of law, the Magistrate Court’s earlier
decision to discharge the respondent was the right one as she had obeyed the
law.
As
for the perspective of the eight cyclists who died, the decision to release the
respondent is not fair as they were the victims of the accident. This
perspective cannot be refuted but they should bear the consequences of their
actions. I feel like the fault was on the 8 cyclists who sneaked out of the
house to ride bicycles in the middle of the night. The respondent was not able
to control her vehicle since the cyclists came out of nowhere. The incident
happened during nighttime which was disadvantageous for her. It could be
clearly seen that the respondent had repeatedly expressed her sympathies for
the families of the eight cyclists and saddened over the lost of lives. She had
not intended to drive recklessly during the wee hours and did not expect taking
lives on that night (Singh, 2022).
As a
person from the public, I could understand the cyclists’ families’ pain and
sadness are going through but it was partially their fault for allowing their
children to ride bicycles recklessly in dark times. Even the cyclists should
have known how dangerous it is to ride bicycles in dark and they could have
easily prevented this situation from happening. It is very saddening to see
that most of the public are completely blaming the respondent without even
since she had always been a law-abiding citizen. It is not completely her fault
for the accident.
The decision of The High Court
On 13th
February 2022, the high court in Johor Bharu had sentenced her 6 years jail and
fined her for a total of 6,000 ringgit. Although Sam Ke Ting was not driving
carelessly or influence by alcohol, she was still charged as the death of
others is irreversible and no punishment can bring those bikers back alive. The
High Court judge also stated that she should also take accountability for
driving on a dim road at a fast pace.
It's not a crime to cycle on highways
According
to Datuk Seri Shaharuddin Khalid, He claims that cycling on the highway is a not
a crime, cyclists can go wherever they intended as cyclists are not under the
control of The Road Transport Department of Malaysia (JPJ). JPJ’s scope of
authority is vehicles that pay road tax, and as for cyclists, they do not need
to. Thus, those cyclists are not forbidden to be cycling on the highway.
Dangerous driving and careless driving
According
to the Road Transport Act 1987, dangerous driving is defined as driving
recklessly or at a high speed which put others in harm’s way. The claim “ The
respondent has committed a serious offence which is driving recklessly or
dangerously resulted in the death of eight lives.” Is made by Judge Datuk Abu
Bakar on the seriousness of the offence. In section 43 of the Road Transport
Act 1987, exceeding the speed limit will result in fine of not less than 1,000
ringgit. On top of that, the respondent, Sam Ke Ting is also sentenced with Act
1065 the crime of causing death by reckless or dangerous driving, leading to
imprisonment of 2-10 years and a fine of 5,000-20,000 ringgit. The judge
assumes that the respondent is guilty as she drove quickly on a dim road and
she actions put others in danger.
On the other hand, careless
driving is referred as inconsiderate driving and not caring
about the safety or paying attention for others on the road. Elias et al (2014)
had highlighted that the behaviour of the driver poses an essential factor in
road accidents.The Road Transport Act 1987 had mentioned that those who are
committing careless driving will be fined between 4,000-10,000 ringgits. Hence,
forbidding them to drive for a period of time. Some argued that Sam Ke Ting did
not receive the punishment that she deserve as she was fined 6,000 ringgits only
eventhough she violated many rules. Currently, the latest news of the
respondent that achieved her freedom triggered many social groups. Some stated
that the death of those children was worthless, the court is being unfair and
the children will not rest in peace. The public is not convinced that Sam Ke
Ting was not able to avoid the collision and they doubt that she had the
intention to crash them.
During my childhood, I felt annoyed
when it comes to mom and dad’s nagging especially not letting me going out
alone at night, not to mention about road accidents. However, as the news of
accident of car ramming into modified bicycles with 8 teens involved (Bernama,
2022), I didn’t realize this tragedy costs so much innocent lives of children,
imagine if their parents reading the news in social media right now.
Traditional parenting style is
important, by strict rules to children respecting their elders thus prevent
negative influences such as smoking or modifying a bicycle. I realized how
dangerous to ride a bicycle without brakes. Back when I was an 11-year-old,
during weekends my dad allow me to ride a bicycle at a park. At first, I rode
slowly, avoiding obstacles on the track with multiple laps to get used of my
knees on the paddle. Gaining my confidence, I paddled faster I could get to
feel the highest speed of the bicycle. Unfortunately, I got carried away, as my
dad asked me about the TV show we will watch today, my bicycle ram into him,
with us rolling on the track. Dad’s mood changed, and grounded me for hurting
him instead of curing my wound. Which made me learned that traditional
parenting style is effective as family lives matters, disciplining me into a
good daughter.
As a daughter, I realized that it is
helpful when I listen to my parents’ advice. I had to admit, I hate the feeling
when mom barges into my room repeating the same advice. I’m glad that I am not
being stubborn by sneaking from my house. On the other hand, I should
appreciate my precious life too. If I’m being curious about racing modified
bicycle to win money and had a tragic accident on a highway, my parents will
feel devastated while visiting my unconscious state in a hospital. Imagine my
parents work for money while I’m being playful while taking dangerous risk of
my life.
Even though children should learn to
be independent, but health and safety are top priority. Taking illegal
activities such as basikal lajak might lead to severe injuries or worse still,
death. I realized the importance of installing brakes on vehicles as I study
Physics during high school. Brakes gives us the ability to slow down or stop in
an instant without causing serious accident. We should pay attention to the
cars on the road, not showing off our superman pose. As a driver myself, it is
important to not fall asleep, holding my phone and getting drunk. If I’m being
careless, I would lose my driving license or even worse, prison for six years
with a fine of RM6000 (Ramanujam, 2022).
I believe parents are not to blame as
they’re the victims of basikal lajak case. I’ve seen my dad goes out to work
until 6pm while my mom does chores, prepare meals and taking care of her
children everyday. It is the moment I realize how much family love is
contributed, as they raise me to be a filial daughter. I believe one day I will
return my kindness to the people I loved.
How adults view this incident
Adults believed that the saleswoman
was not in the wrong, based on the facts of the case, investigations revealed
that the young lady was NOT intoxicated, distracted by her phone, or under the
influence of drugs. The accident happened on a dark hilly road, and her vision
was obstructed by multiple corners, making her unable to predict the presence
of the teenagers. At 3 a.m. that day, the teenagers created a dangerous
situation for themselves. As a result, she took to social media to defend
herself, while blaming the cyclists' parents for allowing them to be out at 3
a.m. racing their bikes. Some other adults were not pleased when the saleswoman
was acquitted of the charges and released. They would ask the Chinese woman to
imagine if eight of her family members died in an accident and the court
released the person who hit them; how would you feel if it was your family?
Do the elders have a correct judgment?
As Renushara (2019) have stated, most
of the elders support the 22-year-old driver, agreeing that children should not
be cycling dangerously on a highway, let alone at 3 a.m. Many people also
wished the lady well, who reportedly suffered a great deal of trauma because of
running over the children. Old people believe that everyone was aware of the
location's popularity with the activity (basikal lajak) because basikal lajak races
were frequently reported there. It is natural for people who are familiar with
the road to anticipate their presence, but this may only apply to those who
live in the area. It would not be fair to people who rarely use the road or who
do not live in the area. These elderly people also advised parents to closely
supervise their children to prevent the same accident from happening again in
the future. It was also requested that the police be stricter in dealing with
such activity.
The standpoints of the adolescence
Teenagers or youngsters believe that
this group of youths consisted of about 30-40 teenagers aged 13 to 17, who were
blocking the highway. However, as more information became available in the
media, it became clear that this was not a random occurrence. According to one
of the teenagers involved in the accident, the driver was speeding and using
her cell phone at the time of the accident. However, it appears that the police
did not agree with what the teen said because she was detained for a while
before being released, with the authorities claiming that she was not speeding,
drunk, or using her cell phone (Sim, 2021). Most of the comments point to the
parents as the party at fault. In fact, the Sultan of Johor has stated that
parents should take note of this incident. But here is the thing: it appears
that the parents of these children attempted to control them. People of all
ages agreed that parents should take responsibility for controlling their
children's movements to keep them safe.
A personal conclusion
After reading the entire news report,
I fell into deep thought. From my point of view as a public, I can understand
the grief and pain of the 8 teenagers' parents who lost their children and hope
that the car owners will be punished. However, after two court trials, the
owner was acquitted. This shows what?
First of all, it's a bit unbelievable
that the teenagers ride out the modified bicycles at 3 am. Would normal parents
allow their children to come out and play at night like this? It can be seen
from this that the parents of these teenagers are not very strict with their
children. At least everyone knows that it is very dangerous to travel at night.
Their parents also allow them to come out in the early morning. I believe that
people at this time have already entered their dreamland. Secondly, these
teenagers are riding modified bicycles on the road. I can understand that the
modified bicycles are fast and windy, which greatly satisfies the heroic dream
of adolescent children, but on such a night, the road conditions In the dark,
he was riding a modified bicycle without wearing any reflective clothing or
pants. In such dim road conditions, it is difficult for the car owner to see
the pedestrians in front. In the end, in the results of the two court trials,
the car owner Chen Keating was acquitted, which shows that Chen Keating did not
violate the law and traffic rules. But why after so many years of trials, after
7 years, the car owner Chen Keating needs to be sentenced to prison?
The deceased has passed away, and we should not always live in the past of grief and revenge. For parents of teenagers, we can understand the grief of losing a child. However, the fact has already happened, what we can do is move forward and face the future, instead of living in the past all the time. As for the owner of the car, Chen Keating, she is only a 21-year-old girl. She experienced such a life-and-death incident at such a young age. I believe that she was also very frightened, and she may also be very self-blaming. She spent the rest of her life expressing her apology for this incident, which was already very big torture. Everyone should take a step back, and don't be brooding over this matter and live in each other's pain.
1) Kalaiyarasie a/p pandian
2) Liu YingYing
3) Ng Yean Ting
4) Seow Yi Xuan
5) Thirka Thrisnee a/p raja
References:
Laws of Malaysia - portal Rasmi Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh
(MBI). (n.d.). Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.mbi.gov.my/sites/default/files/road_transport_act_1987.pdf
Singh,
S. (2022, April 18). 'Basikal Lajak' case: Sam Ke Ting calls on public to stop
... Retrieved April 26, 2022, from https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2022/04/789674/basikal-lajak-case-sam-ke-ting-calls-public-stop-looking-her-case-racial
Elias, E. M., Bahaudin, A. Y., Mahidin, N. (August 2014).
An Empirical Study of Th Road Accidents: Influence of The Costs of Living.
Retrieved April 25,2022, from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281361304_AN_EMPIRICAL_STUDY_OF_ROAD_ACCIDENTS_INFLUENCE_OF_THE_COSTS_OF_LIVING
Bernama (April 2022) Parents of teens in ‘basikal
lajak’ case happy justice has been served, from https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2022/04/13/parents-of-teens-in-basikal-lajak-case-happy-justice-has-been-served/
Ramanujam, M. K.
(April 2022) Parents, stop kids racing basikal lajak on highways, from https://paultan.org/2022/04/14/parents-stop-kids-racing-basikal-lajak-on-highways/
Renushara.
(2019, January 23). goggle. Retrieved from world of buzz: https://worldofbuzz.com/woman-involved-in-tragic-johor-accident-that-killed-8-teens-remains-free-msians-divided-on-the-verdict/
Sim,
J. (2021, March 19). goggle. Retrieved from cilisos: https://cilisos.my/who-could-be-responsible-for-the-deaths-of-8-teen-cyclists-hit-by-a-car-in-johor/
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