KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — A 25-year-old college student was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment and fined RM5,000 after pleading guilty to ramming his car into a traffic policeman, in the Magistrates Court today.
Tan Wooi Zhan from Ipoh, Perak, was earlier charged with reckless driving under Section 42(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987.
Nodding after the charge was read, Tan made his plea in front of Magistrate M. Saravanan.
According to the charge, he had driven his Mercedes-Benz E200 recklessly and collided into traffic police personnel Mohamad Aniq Ariz Mohd Kassim, 22, at the Jalan Hishamuddin traffic light intersection, KL around 8.11am on April 2.
The law allows for up to five years’ imprisonment, a fine between between RM5,000 and RM15,000 and a minimum two-year suspension for the convicted person’s driving licence.
During mitigation, the unrepresented Tan asked for leniency by claiming remorse and saying he was a student.
“Your honour, I did not have the slightest intention to crash into the officer,” he pleaded when claiming another car had swerved into his lane and forced him to take evasive measures that ended in the collision.
He said this was witnessed by others at the scene and pointed out that he alighted immediately to provide first aid to the injured policeman as he was trained to do so.
Deputy public prosecutor Muhamad Zuraidi Zulkifli urged the court to hand down a fair sentence as a reminder for others to be vigilant when driving and to deter the failure to obey road rules.
Saravanan then issued his decision, adding that the fine would attract another five months’ imprisonment if unpaid.
He also ordered Tan’s driving licence to be suspended for three years.
A video of the incident recorded by a nearby surveillance camera was widely shared on social media.
