8 months' jail for S'porean private-hire driver, 46, who ran red light & killed M'sian motorcyclist, 38

A 46-year-old Singaporean private-hire driver was sentenced to eight months' jail after she hit and killed a 38-year-old Malaysian man on a motorcycle when she ran a red light in Eunos in 2024.

The Straits Times reported that she was sentenced in court on Feb. 27, 2026.

Pleaded guilty

Bok Chuan Yue pleaded guilty to one count of driving without due care and attention thereby causing death.

She is also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for eight years after her release.

Another charge over driving without due care and attention thereby causing hurt was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The private-hire driver had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of negligent and careless driving on Feb. 10, 2026.

Ran red light

On the day of the incident, she failed to notice that the traffic light had already turned red for seven seconds and proceeded to travel across a road junction in Eunos.

Bok was driving along Changi Road towards Geylang Road on the night on Mar. 26, 2024 at about 11:40pm.

After dropping off a passenger, she had wanted to wait for customers in Geylang, where demand tended to be higher.

While driving to the junction of Changi Road and Jalan Eunos, she was distracted by her search for customers and failed to notice that the traffic light had turned red.

Seven seconds later, Bok ran the red light and crossed the stop line, colliding with the motorcycle that was travelling along Jalan Eunos and had the right of way.

Another car was also struck in the incident.

Flung off, died

The motorcyclist, Wong Jun Jie, was flung off his bike upon impact and fell onto the lane where traffic was coming in the opposite direction.

He was reportedly seriously injured and sent to Changi General Hospital, where he underwent surgery.

However, he later fell into a vegetative state and his family decided to take him off life support when he did not recover from his injuries after more than two weeks and showed no signs of improvement.

He passed away on Apr. 14, 2024.

'Thinking about work'

Following the accident, Bok said in court that she missed the red light due to the festive lights on the road at the time of the accident, as well as her unfamiliarity with the area.

Her lawyer argued that as she was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and was not speeding, but only thinking about work, her sentence should be no more than six months in prison.

Traffic accidents

According to an annual road traffic situation report, while motorcycles made up only 14.7 per cent of Singapore's total vehicle population in 2024, motorcyclists or pillion riders were involved in 55.2 per cent of all traffic accidents and accounted for 59.9 per cent of traffic fatalities.

The number of motorcyclist and pillion rider fatalities increased by about 25 per cent, from 68 persons in 2023 to 85 persons in 2024.

Top photos via court documents