SINGAPORE, June 24 — The chief executive officer of SBS Transit DTL, which operates the Downtown Line of Singapore’s MRT network, was charged today with driving-related offences that led to an accident in February.
Alex Goei Beng Guan, 62, faces two charges under the Road Traffic Act of driving without reasonable consideration for other road users.
Court documents stated that he was driving along the slip road of Woodlands Road towards Upper Bukit Timah Road at about noon on Feb 5.
He then allegedly failed to give way to traffic along the slip road of Kranji Expressway towards Bukit Timah Expressway, and collided into a motorcyclist.
The biker, 74-year-old Hashim Hussein, was riding on the second lane of the two-lane slip road.
Goei is accused of causing hurt to him, as well as causing grievous hurt to Hashim’s pillion rider — Supariyah Salamat, 68.
Court documents didn’t specify the extent of the injuries suffered by Hashim and Supariyah.
Goei’s lawyer, John Daniel from Goodwins Law Corporation, asked for time to make representations to the prosecution.
Goei will return to court on July 30 and remains out on bail of S$10,000 (RM30,939).
If convicted of causing grievous hurt through his driving, he could be jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.
Offenders convicted of causing hurt by driving without reasonable consideration can be jailed for up to a year or fined up to S$2,500, or both.
In response to TODAY’s queries, Tammy Tan, the senior vice-president of corporate communications at SBS Transit, said that Goei “regrets the unfortunate incident”.
“This is, however, a personal matter and pending legal proceedings, so it is not appropriate for us to comment further,” she added.
In a writeup on the transport operator’s website, Goei is described as having joined SBS Transit in 1985 and starting at the time with bus service planning and project management.
He was involved in launching the North-East Line and Sengkang-Punggol LRT line, before being promoted to senior vice-president of rail operations in 2013. — TODAY
