Woman, 61, died after getting hit & dragged 82m by bus in AMK, bus captain, 56, didn't know he hit her

In 2022, a 61-year-old woman, who was crossing a road in Ang Mo Kio, was knocked over by a bus making a left turn.

She was then dragged for around 82m before being run over by two cars.

She died at the scene.

The 56-year-old bus captain, who did not realise he had hit someone until a day later, was charged with one count of careless driving.

He pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.

Traffic and pedestrian lights turned green at the same time

The accident occurred at about 10:26pm on Jun. 20, 2022, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Investigations revealed that Liu (transliteration) was driving a Tower Transit bus on lane three along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 towards Boundary Road prior to the accident.

When the bus reached a junction between Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and 3, Liu decelerated along the stop line when the traffic light turned red.

At the time, the pedestrian crossing light was also red and the deceased was waiting on the sidewalk.

Not long after, both the traffic and pedestrian crossing lights turned green.

The bus started off and Liu began making a left turn.

At the same time, the woman also started to make her way across the road.

As Liu did not notice the woman, she was knocked down by the bus as he made the turn.

She was dragged around 82.2m until the junction between Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 and Street 21, where she was dislodged from the undercarriage of the bus.

She was then run over by two cars.

When the police arrived, they found the elderly woman in the middle of the road.

The vehicles involved were no longer at the scene.

The woman was declared dead at scene at 10:40pm.

Other drivers could not tell it was a human body

Court documents showed that Liu admitted that the woman's death was caused by the collision with the bus he was driving, and not the subsequent collisions with the car and taxi, Shin Min reported.

The drivers of the car and taxi, a 61-year-old and 71-year-old, shared that they were not able to tell from the remains of the woman that it belonged to a person.

This was after she was knocked over and dragged by the bus.

They also could not react or brake in time.

Bus captain did not stop before turning left: Prosecutors

During the trial on Oct. 14, the prosecution accused Liu of not stopping the bus prior to making the left turn.

They relied on footage from the Land Transport Authority's surveillance cameras, on-board bus cameras and dashboard camera footage from cars in the area to make their case, Shin Min reported.

They also suggested that if Liu had turned to check or shifted his body position, the accident could have been avoided.

However, he failed to do so.

Bus captain testified that he checked blindspots

The trial continued on Oct. 16, and Liu was called to testify on the stand.

He emphasised that he had followed procedure and checked his blindspots but did not notice anyone there.

He claimed that after the accident, he neither sensed that something was off nor did he notice that he had knocked someone over.

When he was informed of the accident by his company at around 1am to 2am, he hopped into a cab and rushed to the depot to assist with investigations.

Speaking about traffic conditions at the junction, Liu shared that he was waiting at the red light for one to two minutes and had signalled his intention to turn left.

"I leaned forward and looked to my left in order to observe my A-pillar blind spot. I then sat upright and looked at my left rear-view mirror before turning again to look backward," Liu recounted

"All these were to observe the traffic condition to the left of the bus. I only proceeded with the turn when I saw that there were no pedestrians," he added.

The prosecution again questioned if he had breached any protocols or traffic rules, to which Liu insisted that he had followed all protocols and procedures to a tee.

Sensors did not go off: Bus captain

According to Shin Min, Liu also shared that when he took over the bus prior to the start of his shift, he did not detect any irregularities after conducting checks.

When the accident happened, sensors that were meant to detect pedestrians did not go off and none of the passengers aboard the bus alerted him about it.

Liu added that the bus had backup sensors, which also failed to go off prior to the accident.

He was asked by lawyers to describe the situation inside the bus at the time, to which he replied: "There were around 10 passengers on board. About six air-conditioner vents were directed at me. The hum of the air-conditioners and chatter from the passengers were loud."

He reiterated that none of the passengers went up to stop him after the accident occurred.

The trial is set to continue.

Top image via Shin Min Daily News