Remember the tragedy that shocked the whole nation 2 years ago, in 2017?
Here’s a quick run down of the devastating incident:
- A 22-year-old female was driving home at 3am on a highway
- 16 teenagers on their basikal lajak a.k.a. ‘mosquito bicycles’ were ran over
- 8 passed away, while another 8 were injured
- Police believed the group of 20 to 30 cyclists had obstructed the road before the accident
Further investigations show the young lady was NOT intoxicated, playing on her phone, nor on drugs as speculated online.
Source: NST
Later, many netizens expressed their support for the 22-year-old driver, agreeing that the kids should not be cycling dangerously on a highway let alone at 3am! Many also wished the lady well, who reportedly suffered immense trauma from running over the kids.
After 2 years…
According to Sinar Harian, after several sessions, the Magistrate Court in Johor Bahru released her from the reckless driving charge over the deaths of the teenagers.
The Magistrate, Siti Hajar Ali, released Sam Ke Ting, who is currently 24-year-old, without calling her to appeal after the lawsuit party failed to justify a prima facie case on the suspect at the end of the prosecution case.
Siti Hajar announced that the court have made the decision upon several standings including:
- The accident situated at a dark hilly road.
- The driver’s sight was obstructed by multiple corners, making her unable to predict the teenagers’ presence.
- The dangerous situation was created by the teenagers themselves at 3 am that day.
Source: YouTube
“According to the explanation given by the investigators, a big tree and the low lighted location may obstruct the suspect’s view even when there are lights by the road’s divider.”
“Everyone knew that the location is popular with the activity (basikal lajak) since basikal lajak races have been reported there a lot. It is natural for people who are used to the road to predict their presence, but that could only apply to the people who live in the area only. It wouldn’t be fair for people who rarely use the road or people who were not local residents,” she added.
Source: Astro Awani
Source: Malaysia Kini
The suspect was also said to have been driving responsibly during the accident as she was not under alcoholic influence, nor was she using her phone while driving. She was even wearing her seatbelt.
Siti Hajar said due to those findings, she would let the suspect to appeal but the suspect decided that she wanted to remain silent.
“The question is, would I question her under the evidences given by the lawsuit parties? My answer is no. Thus the suspect must be released without having to appeal.”
Upon that decision, the magistrate gave a stern reminder for parents to carefully supervise their children to avoid the same accident occurring again in the future. The police were also requested to be more strict when dealing with such activity.
Ke Ting was charged in the same court back in 28th March 2017 and appealed that she was not guilty upon the charges.
Source: Astro Awani
It was really a grim tragedy but it should stand as a lesson to every parent out there to strictly supervise their children so that this awful tragedy does not repeat itself.
Also read: Young Malaysian Lady Who Rammed 8 Cyclists Resorts to Crowd Funding for Legal Fees
