News
Private bus driver, 68, bends down to pick up phone while driving in Tuas, hits minibus & kills its driver, 64
He was given a one-year jail sentence and had his driver's licence suspended for eight years.
January 23, 2026, 05:45 PM
A private bus driver bent down to pick up his phone while driving and ended up hitting and killing a minibus driver.
The act of picking up his phone in 2024 caused Chan Kwok-hing, 68, to lose control of his vehicle, which crashed into the driver and the minibus that was parked at the side of the road at Tuas South Avenue 4 toward Tuas South Avenue 7.
Chan was sentenced on Jan. 23 to a year's jail for reckless driving.
The accident
The fatal accident occurred on Sep. 6, 2024 at about 7:31am, according to Shin Min Daily News.
Chan had started work at about 4am, picking up passengers around the island.
He dropped passengers off at Tuas South Avenue 10, then drove towards Lakeside MRT station to pick another group up.
While en route to his destination, Chan noticed his mobile phone slipping off the area behind the steering wheel, where he had placed it.
He bent down to pick the device up, causing him to lose control of the bus, which veered left towards the kerb.
The bus then crashed into a white minibus that was parked along the road, as well as its 64-year-old driver, who was standing in front of the bus.
The victim had been standing on the road with his left foot on the kerb, on the left side of the minibus, when he got hit.
After the accident, Chan stopped his bus along the left-most lane to avoid obstructing traffic, and saw the victim lying motionless on the road.
He then asked a passerby to call for an ambulance.
By the time the paramedics attended to the victim, he had stopped breathing and did not have a pulse.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem report indicated that his cause of death was due to multiple injuries.
Trial
The incident was captured on the private bus's in-vehicle camera.
It was later revealed in court that Chan had filtered between lanes leading up to the accident, and he had multiple prior criminal records for speeding.
For his repeat offending, the prosecution sought 10 to 12 months' jail.
Chan was eventually handed a one-year jail sentence and had his driver's licence suspended for eight years.
Top image via Shin Min Daily News
