AsiaOne
Tuesday, Mar 27, 2012

A doctor said he did not know he had hit two cyclists during an accident when he lost control of his car and ended up killing one of the riders.

General practitioner Teo Tiong Kiat, 64, told the court on Tuesday that he thought his car must have hit the two cyclists when he walked back to the accident scene along Clementi Road on March 21, 2010.

The Straits Times reported that Teo admitted to causing the death of freelance writer Benjamin Mok Chee Kong, 35, and injuring another cyclist, Bertram Leong Poh Meng, 24, by failing to keep a proper lookout when swerving from the centre to the left lane.

He testified that he was driving along Clementi Road on his way home after dinner when he felt the car swerving to the left and wobbling.

He said he lost control of the car and heard a loud sound.

When he finally got it together, he drove down the slip road to Upper Bukit Timah Road and parked at the carpark to inspect his badly damaged bonnet, windscreen and roof.

The Straits Times reported that Teo thought it was amazing that his car was so badly damaged and yet he did not have an injury.

Later, his office manager came to the carpark and pointed out the missing front number plate.

Teo then walked back to the scene where he saw police and his number plate by the side of the road.

Teo said that if he had realised that he was involved in an accident, he would have helped those injured at the time.

"I also want to add that as a doctor, it is my duty and my training to render assistance to the poor, and to the sick, all the more so if I had known that I had caused injury to somebody, I would have definitely rendered my assistance," he said.