S'pore Prison Services apologises after its bus struck car in Simei & didn't stop

The Singapore Prison Services (SPS) has apologised after one of its buses hit the side of a waiting car at a Simei traffic junction on Oct. 8 and went on its way without stopping.

The accident happened at a traffic light junction along Simei Street 3 at around 9:20am.

The accident

Dashcam footage posted to the "SG Road Vigilante" Facebook page showed that the camcar was waiting on the right-most lane of the junction to perform a U-turn.

A loud thud could be heard as a dark-coloured SPS bus drove past the left side of the car.

An object belonging to the car was dislodged due to the impact.

The SPS bus carried on forward without stopping.

Footage from a rearview camera showed that the SPS bus was driving well within its lane when the impact with the car took place.

In the video's caption, the car driver said he tried to follow the SPS bus and found it parked at Changi General Hospital (CGH), in an area which was not accessible to the public.

The driver said they approached a traffic officer on duty for help, and the officer advised them to make a police report.

Many online users, however, felt that the driver was also at fault for not staying in lane while waiting at the junction.

SPS vehicle was bringing inmates, officers to CGH

Following the incident, the Singapore Prison Services (SPS) posted an apology to Facebook.

SPS confirmed that an accident involving one of their vehicles and a private car took place along Simei Street 3, about 400m away from CGH, at about 9:20am.

The vehicle was transporting inmates and escorting officers from the Changi Prison Complex to CGH for the inmates’ medical appointments.

"The right side of the SPS vehicle made an impact with the left side of a private car which was travelling on the lane next to the SPS vehicle," SPS said.

SPS staff failed to stop vehicle after accident: SPS

SPS noted that the staff in the SPS vehicle did not stop the vehicle and continued to CGH, which is not in accordance with SPS’s standard operating procedure that requires the vehicle to stop and assess for any damages and injuries after an accident.

"We regret that our staff in the SPS vehicle had failed to stop the vehicle after the accident," SPS said.

SPS added that it has since contacted the private car driver involved.

SPS has also lodged a police report and will cooperate fully with the police on the investigations, the post read.

The police confirmed with Mothership that a report was lodged and investigations are ongoing.

Top image from SGRV / Facebook