Bus driver jailed after killing 18-year-old cyclist at Yishun Ring Road crossing

A tour bus driver failed to slow down at a discretionary left turn on Yishun Ring Road on July 12, 2023, colliding with 18-year-old Malaysian cyclist Jeffson Tang, who was pronounced dead at the scene. Yuan Changqing, a 38-year-old Chinese national employed by Leisure Frontier, was driving a shuttle service linking Yishun, Canberra and Sembawang when he approached the junction of Yishun Avenue 2 and Yishun Ring Road without reducing speed, despite a flashing green man indicating six seconds remaining on the pedestrian crossing.

Court footage showed Yuan making the left turn without slowing, and he only stopped after hearing a sound from the bus's rear left tyre. The impact flung Tang off his bicycle into the path of the bus, causing him to land beneath it with blood pooling around his head. Tang's father, who was cycling with him, immediately attended to his son. Paramedics found Tang with multiple abrasions to his lower limbs and head injuries; an autopsy later confirmed death was due to head and chest injuries consistent with motor vehicle trauma.

Yuan appeared in court via video link on September 2, 2024, and pleaded guilty to one charge of careless driving causing death. He was sentenced to 10 months' jail and disqualified from all classes of driving licences for eight years. The court heard Yuan had prior convictions for two counts of careless driving and one count of speeding between 2019 and 2021, which he attributed to insufficient rest time and packed work schedules arranged by his company. In mitigation, Yuan expressed his apologies to Tang's family, stating: "It's too late to say anything else now."

• 02 Sept 2024straitstimes.com