Man jailed for crashing into traffic light; lying to cops that valet driver caused accident

At the traffic junction of Jalan Sultan and Beach Road, he turned into the rightmost lane of Beach Road, towards the slip road heading towards Java Road. But instead of making the turn, he drove straight into the traffic light at the slip road.

A member of the public alerted the police to the accident. Officers who arrived found Tan in the vicinity of the car and interviewed him. Tan denied being the driver of the car, claimed he was at a nearby KTV and that it was a valet who drove the car.

He lied that the valet had crashed the car and left the scene.

Noticing that he reeked of alcohol and was slurring, the officers conducted a breathalyser test on Tan, which he failed.

He was arrested and taken to the Traffic Police headquarters, where his breath alcohol level was found to be 69 micrograms per 100ml of breath, above the current limit of 35mcg per 100ml of breath.

During an interview with the police, Tan repeated the lie about the valet driver. He also claimed that two unknown men approached him after the accident, telling him to leave his keys in his car and “run for his life”.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sean Teh sought a sentence of between three and four weeks’ jail, and a driving disqualification of between 30 and 36 months for Tan.

The crash had resulted in property damage of more than $1,600, as the traffic light was uprooted from the ground, DPP Teh said, adding that Tan had a relevant speeding antecedent in 2019.

“The present offences represent a clear escalation of offending since then,” said DPP Teh.

In mitigation, Tan said he was remorseful for his action, and had called the investigation officer to rectify his statement after he sobered up.

For driving without due care and attention, an offender can be fined up to $1,500, jailed for up to six months, or both. Those convicted of drink driving can be fined between $2,000 and $10,000, jailed for up to 12 months, or both.

In February, the authorities announced they were looking to reduce the alcohol limit for drink driving, in light of the deteriorating road traffic situation.

The current drink-driving limit has remained unchanged since it was introduced in 1985, said Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs Sim Ann during the debate on the ministry’s budget.

This is more than double that of Japan and Taiwan, which have limits equivalent to 15mcg.

Ms Sim said the outdated laws in Singapore will be changed, with the limit to be lowered to 15mcg of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Legislative changes will be made later this year.