86-year-old cabbie jailed for a year over Fortress Hill accident

Ngai's taxi was crushed after mowing down the 3 women, then hitting a lamppost on King's Rd

An 86-year-old taxi driver who injured four people, two of them seriously, after running a red light in Fortress Hill in March last year, was jailed for one year yesterday, Tuesday. 

Ngai Choi-nung pleaded guilty to a count of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm when he appeared before Deputy District Court Judge David Cheung, who blasted the octogenarian for his reckless and irresponsible driving.

The incident occurred at around 1 pm back on March 5 last year, when the taxi driven by Ngai and carrying a Filipino passenger was running down a slope along Fortress Hill Road and didn’t stop despite the red light at the junction with King’s Road.

TAWAG NA!

The taxi hit three women - a local Chinese, Indian and Filipina - before finally coming to a halt after ramming a lamp post, leaving it severely crushed.

The two Filipinos – one pedestrian and the passenger – were slightly injured.

However, the two other women, surnamed Singh and Chu, who were initially left in a coma due to their injuries, suffered long-lasting injuries. 

Singh suffered intracranial hemorrhage and fractures to her skull and left femur, while Chu sustained serious head injury and multiple bone fractures.

Both still regularly see specialists in neurology and orthopedics.

Ngai after his sentencing (The Standard photo)

In sentencing, Judge Cheung said that as a professional driver, Ngai had a social duty to ensure the safety of pedestrians as well as passengers. 

The judge rejected the defense’s case that Ngai had misread the traffic lights or accidentally stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake.

He said the defendant had sufficient time to check the traffic lights and observe road traffic. He also couldn’t explain why he didn’t see the red light.

In addition to the jail term of one year, the judge ordered Ngan’s licence suspended for two years and take a driving improvement course. However, the defense counsel said this was no longer necessary as Ngan had surrendered his license and no longer drives.

Earlier in mitigation, the defense counsel said Ngai had been working as a taxi driver since he retired at age 60 to take care of his sick wife and seven children, and was fined only twice.

His jail term was reduced to 12 months after the judge took note of Ngai’s guilty plea, his age and good background.

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