A 27-year-old lorry driver who mowed down and killed three pedestrians near Yio Chu Kang MRT station last year pleaded guilty to charges of driving a lorry without a Class 3 license and insurance.

The Straits Times reported that Xu Kai Xiang, a Singapore permanent resident, was on Monday (Oct. 14) fined S$1,400 and banned from driving for a year.

Given a discharge not amounting to an acquittal

Xu also faced a third charge of causing the deaths of the three pedestrians — Chua Cheng Thong, 86, Gina Chua Aye Wah, 58, and Yap Soon Huat, 63 — by driving dangerously on Apr. 23, but he was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal.

A discharge not amounting to an acquittal means that the case has been dropped temporarily, and therefore may be revived later.

He can still be prosecuted for the offence later on, pending the outcome of the  a coroner's inquiry into the deaths.

The accident

On Apr. 23, 2018, at around 9.30am, Xu was driving along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 towards Marymount Road when the accident occurred.

He is accused of failing to have proper control of the lorry, causing the vehicle to mount the kerb and hit the railings before colliding into the three pedestrians.

The two Chuas and Yap were all pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

The lorry continued surging forward before it hit a stationary SBS bus at the entrance of Yio Chu Kang bus interchange.

It eventually hit a bollard before coming to a stop.

Videos of the horrific accident went viral on Facebook last year, including this one (warning: some readers may find the footage disturbing):

Xu did not possess a valid license to drive the lorry

Xu did not possess a Class 3 (manual transmission) license, which was required to drive the lorry involved in the accident.

He only had a Class 3A license, which permits a driver to operate vehicles on automatic transmission only.

He had previously applied for and obtained a Class 3 Provisional Driving License, but only took a practical driving test for a Class 3A license.

However, Xu did not tell his father that he did not possess the appropriate license for driving the lorry.

His father, believing he was qualified to drive the lorry, allowed him to drive it as well as his personal car.

For driving without a license and driving without insurance, Xu could have been fined up to S$1,000 or jailed up to three months for each offence.

Top image via Google Street View.