Accident at Punggol Rd towards Rivervale Plaza

Just an update.
Met with accident on 26 Sep 2009 (approximately 8:30pm) while heading towards Rivervale Plaza from Punggol Road (near St. Anne's Church). This may look long-winded but it happened in a flash.

My wife was driving around Seng Kang area after dropping by Punggol jetty for a walk at the beach in the evening. It was about 8:30pm while my car (on left most lane) started to move off when the traffic light turns green, i realized there's a lady carrying a child walking (backfacing us) very near to the edge of the pedestrain crossing (from St Anne's Church to the block in front - Blk 127). Just as my car almost passed her she stepped out of the pedestrain line ! Next thing i hear was a knock on my left rear side of the car. We stopped the car about 3m down and i stepped out and could not see anyone on the left side. Instead, i see a long queue of cars behind me honking at us. I got back and ask my wife to drive further down into the bus bay and i got out again and ran to the traffic light. Next thing i saw was shocking. A double decker bus was blocking the entire road opposite to our direction along Seng Kang East Way (from Blk 127 towards 232) and the lady was lying side ways and not moving. A little girl was screaming at her and a few passers-by started to attend to the lady and child. From my angle, it looked as though she was pinned below or just ran over by the rear of the bus !
When i reached the opposite traffic light, i quickly take a look at her while some passers-by flipped her over. She was wearing pyjamas and there were no major nor physical injuries and she is still breathing. I asked the bus driver what happened and he told me she ran across the road and knocked onto the right rear of the bus. I told the bus driver my part of the story while she was on the other junction too. I called my wife to drive the car to some block or MSCP first and come over.

As we waited for the ambulance and police to arrive, someone wanted to carry and shift her to one side because we are blocking 2 out of 3 lanes (bus take up one lane and the lady is lying on the 2nd lane). My first thought was not to move her first and some auntie and uncle kept saying not the touch her as we do not know if she had any injuries to the spine. The shifting might cause more injuries and might even paralyse her.

As we waited, myself and a few others kept asking her how is she, and can she sit up by herself but she gave no response although we can see that her eyes were opened. Some ladies searched her pockets for wallet or ID but there is only a bunch of keys. There is simply no response from her. I went on to check with the others attending to the daughter (she is fine) and they actually got a number for the husband but he did not answer the calls. Both of them are wearing pyjamas and the daughter is actually holding on to her bolster.

When the ambulance came, a passer-by who saw what happened went to the hospital with them. He told me his dog is tied to the traffic light and i volunteered to bring the pet to his home after getting his address (which is nearby and walkable). After sending the dog, i went back to the scene and the police has arrived and talking to the bus driver. Some SBS officer was there too and i told them what i see. After a while, my wife and i approached the officer and told him our part of the story. He took my wife's license and told us to wait a while as he tries to picture what we said.

While waiting, i decided to drive the car over and parked at Blk 232 (near the 7-eleven). More SBS officers came and they asked us what happened again and then requested to take a look at the car. I showed them that there is only a mark (and no dent) on the left rear door) which they took some pictures. I have also took some and here it is.

Picture taken in the evening:


Picture taken in the following morning:


At about 10pm, the policeman came to us and ask me where is our car and he wants to take a look. I showed him where the stain is and he did not even take any pictures. During all these waiting, the passer-by who is at the hospital sms me and told me that both mother and daughter are fine but the lady did not respond to any of the doctors questions. There is no particulars about her at all and the husband has yet answered nor returned any calls.

We continued to wait until about 11pm before more police came and they started to take pictures at the scene and finally wrote down my wife's statement and she signed it and took back her driving license and told us we can leave. It was about 11:45pm. I sms the passer-by while on the way back and he told me he is still waiting at the hospital (Changi General Hospital) for someone to take custody of the lady and child.

Feeling sorry for him, i offered to go over and fetch him back. Once i reached there, we saw the husband arriving and he thanked the passer-by for sending the lady and child to hospital and offered to reimburse us if we are taking cab. All these while, the lady looks more sober, and only kept saying 'sorry, sorry' whenever we told her to be more careful.

While on the way back to Punggol Road, the passer-by told me something eerie. He actually spoke to the little girl (5-6 years old) why did the both of them went downstairs in pyjamas. She told him that her mama wants to bring her downstairs to meet her granny..............who has just passed away recently.

When i reached home, it was almost 2am.......

What a Saturday evening to spend.........and very relieved that both the lady and child is fine.

During all the waitings, we saw alot of Fortes at the junction. So was wondering if any bros/sis actually passed by that area on 26 Sep evening between 8:30pm to 11:30pm ?

I did passed by that night. The double decker bus was right in the middle of the junction. Didn't know what happened then. Hope you all right.

i am still confused. you hit something on your left which is the lady??? or invisible object?

1) she overstepped the line and perhaps knocked onto your left side.
2) she ran to another lane and knocked onto the right rear of the bus...
3) both were in pyjamas and believed to be visiting the "invisible granny" according to the passer-by.

what a strange.......

Glad that the lady and her child was alright....its kinda of saddening when i went through pessimizt story......the child was at the mercy of her mom.....
not sure if actually her mom had entered depression state due to the huge impact of the granny who had just passed away ?

3 cheers for pessimizt for taking the intiative to help things run smoothly till he and his wife went home to zzzzzzz

I m sorry that this thing happened. I m trying to understand ur story....
seems quite complicated as to how the lady got injured. The bus driver seems to admit it was his fault.

You mentioned just when u r driving on, the lady stepped out of the waiting line, meaning yr car was already in motion and your car brushed against her? The bus was right behind you all the while or? Sorry just trying to get the pic right.

Is it likely she brushed against yr car, lost her balance and the bus behind have no reaction time and she hit against it.....

Hahaha!! I think the bus was on the other side of the road right?? :-)

Bro pessimizt!! Think you gotta draw out a sketch or diagram so everyone can visualize. :-)

Anyways, just thank god everyone is alright and no one was badly hurt.

Grandma or no grandma, I think I would have gotten the life shocked out of me!! Think if I got down the car and saw no one, I would have bend down and looked under already!! Sigh....scary.....!! :-(

Sorry for my bad description.
Bro Daniel is right. The bus is on the other direction.
The lady is heading the same direction as my car (that is why she is back facing us). And all of a sudden, she just step out of her pedestrain line and brush onto us. That means after she brushed my car, she somehow managed to reach the centre divider, and continue her way and knock onto the bus.

Here is a sketch....hope it clarifies:

yep, same as my visualization of the incident but somehow this event gives me some goosebumps...

Yah, the bus driver and my wife are very relieved that both of them are alright.

The bus driver actually saw her walking and honk at her before continuing going straight.......and suddenly he saw her bang onto the right rear of the bus and fell from his side mirror.

hmm bro ur car only small problem la, a little wax can remove the stain. =) anyway thx GOD the lady n little girl is ok..

Yup, its cosmetic. Need to wax ? I was thinking of using plain water nia.

Actually i come to realized that some times, some things are destined.

Just to share, my wife and i decided to go to Punggol jetty walk walk after dinner at Punggol Nasi Lemak (Upp Serangoon Road). After that, she decided to drive one round around the park for the 4th meetup. On the way back, we decided to go take a peek at where is Rivervale Mall because there is Daiso. And then met with this incident.

4th meetup?? Now we planning 6th one already wor?? :-)

Hey lucky your wife driving and not I driving. If not I think at the speed I normally drive and pick up, sure she hurt, not just brushed.

Sigh....thats why I think I really need to drive slower and not be so impatient. Hahaha!! :-)

I also dont drive fast.

Lucky the light just turn green and everyone is starting to move off from stationary.

Yeah like I said, lucky I not driving. :-)

Think thats why god didnt make me rich so I can afford faster cars. Hahaha!! :-)

Ohh how come your wife driving and not you driving?? :-) She didnt start screaming?? :-)

She has been driving for 1 month during weekends and some evenings.
Started to drive after getting license for 6 years (because that time still no car).

Let her familiarize with the car in case something happen to me.....still got someone to drive mah.

Just like my case. Except that my case, its my sister. Hehehe!! And my case, her bf stress over her driving cos I will not be in the car with her. Hahaha!! Lucky my parents hardly go out on weekends, so I use the other car. :-)

You should let your wife drive on her own. Without your supervision and presence. Then only will she learn. Driving is all about experience I guess. :-)

The more you drive, the better you get. :-)

Ohh I like to share my experience over the weekend. Went to KL and I think my driving skills have soften ever since I came back to spore. :-)

No offence, not that I saying sporeans dun drive as well, but spore roads and driving, I dun have to concentrate so much and be so 'fierce'. Hahaha!! :-) I used to be very used to the roads in KL. Now, even when I sit in friend's cars there and they go slightly faster or start braking very close to cars in front, etc, I am a bit worried and will warn them. Hahaha!! :-)

And please please, spore cars driving there be careful k?? The more 'ganas' driviers there usually dun 'give face' to spore cars. :-)

pessimizt wrote:Sorry for my bad description.
Bro Daniel is right. The bus is on the other direction.
The lady is heading the same direction as my car (that is why she is back facing us). And all of a sudden, she just step out of her pedestrain line and brush onto us. That means after she brushed my car, she somehow managed to reach the centre divider, and continue her way and knock onto the bus.

Here is a sketch....hope it clarifies:

haa so cute illustration.. but.. hor hor.. u used the map without quoting.. later they charge you how.. haa..
but quite errie that you get out of the car didnt see them then they can sort of go over your car and knock on the bus..

Har ? Need to quote ? Like courtesy of blah blah blah ?

I think by the time i got out, they are already at the divider and the cars behind kept honking like crazy. Singaporeans........ (i am also Singaporean but i dont usually horn unless really necessary)....

Another thing is the bus actually blocks off 3 lanes which basically prevents any vehicle from going straight to Seng Kang East Way. But some drivers actually tried to squeeze through the bus and divider in order to go straight.........and know what..........they got a big scolding by the policeman and have to LL and reverse and make a big round.

Dun angry with the drivers on the road for too long. It is like tt driving in a crowded city. I understand what you meant by destined. I also had an accident because i called a client to change our meeting time so that i can go off earlier from work. If i stick to original timing, wont have that event and to add it up, when i left my carpark, i see the traffic heavy so use an alternative route, only to find the alternative route to be worse in condition and so... i made my way back to the original route only to get into an accident....

Hi aural, sorry to hear about your incident. Hope everything is well now.

To me, it seems like people are getting more stressed and thus more frustrations and impatience.

But the incident of some drivers trying to squeeze through the accident scene baffles me. Cant they see there are police car (with the warning lights on) and policeman ? Cant they see the bus is blocking the whole of 3 lanes ? Cant they think what if they get into accident while trying to squeeze through ? They looked funny when the policeman kept gesturing them to reverse.

wah thank god, not serious happened.

what a relief reading till the end.

And these are times when we all wish we were bikers instead of drivers. Hahaha!! :-)

Or do it the msian style. Buy 1 of those huge 4WDs and just drive over the divider. Provided you dun let the police catch you. Hahaha!! :-)

Daniel^Bigcow wrote:And these are times when we all wish we were bikers instead of drivers. Hahaha!! :-)

Or do it the msian style. Buy 1 of those huge 4WDs and just drive over the divider. Provided you dun let the police catch you. Hahaha!! :-)

You mean this ?

I have a famous quote " Life is short..... Dun make it shorter"

After this incident, it has come to my mind that it is true that no matter how good or experienced a driver can be, sometimes, it also depends alot on the other party.

aural wrote:I have a famous quote " Life is short..... Dun make it shorter"

How true !!!!

pessimizt wrote:After this incident, it has come to my mind that it is true that no matter how good or experienced a driver can be, sometimes, it also depends alot on the other party.

Yeah, else how i earn a living =x. Before you ask, i am an financial consultant lol. Certain things are just not in your control.

Hahaha!! Thats why every month a big portion of my salary goes to maintaining my insurance policies!! :-)

So aural, dun come look for me!! Hahahaha!! Joking. I have quite a few friends who are financial consultants. I have even tried it as a career path before. Completed the training but then didnt pursue it. :-)

So, I believe there's 2 things we all need to do. Invest in insurance, and do up a will!! :-) Dun be superstitious and all. A will is very important for your loved ones especially those married and/or have kids. It is crutial as it makes a lot of different whether one dies with or without a will. Also, saves all the hassle. :-)

Unless of course you're like me. Nothing much to leave behind. Hehehe!! Anyways nowadays insurance also pays to the next of kin automatically. I think in my case, should be my mum. :-) So I no need worry. :-)

Daniel^Bigcow wrote:Hahaha!! Thats why every month a big portion of my salary goes to maintaining my insurance policies!! :-)

So aural, dun come look for me!! Hahahaha!! Joking. I have quite a few friends who are financial consultants. I have even tried it as a career path before. Completed the training but then didnt pursue it. :-)

So, I believe there's 2 things we all need to do. Invest in insurance, and do up a will!! :-) Dun be superstitious and all. A will is very important for your loved ones especially those married and/or have kids. It is crutial as it makes a lot of different whether one dies with or without a will. Also, saves all the hassle. :-)

Unless of course you're like me. Nothing much to leave behind. Hehehe!! Anyways nowadays insurance also pays to the next of kin automatically. I think in my case, should be my mum. :-) So I no need worry. :-)

Why cannot look for you. Lol, i recruit u lor =p

Maybe i should conduct a seminar on wills writing for our members to attend and know more about it. Many consultants only talk buying insurance which is not the entire picture yet. Just btw, dun buy too much insurance also. Buy the correct type and you dun need to buy so much.

Especially after one has met with an accident, we usually wont know what is the first thing we really treasure.

Hahaha!! Dun worry. I know what to buy. Hehehe!! I have financial consultants around me whom are my friends for like 6 or 7 years and the longest, 16 years. Hehehe!! If they know what is good for them, they wont insist I buy worthless or not so important policies. :-)

Recruit me?? I cant lah!! No discipline. And if you ask me to study M5 and M9 again and pass, I think I take like 10 times also might not pass lah!! Hahahaha!! :-)

Daniel^Bigcow wrote:Hahaha!! Dun worry. I know what to buy. Hehehe!! I have financial consultants around me whom are my friends for like 6 or 7 years and the longest, 16 years. Hehehe!! If they know what is good for them, they wont insist I buy worthless or not so important policies. :-)

Recruit me?? I cant lah!! No discipline. And if you ask me to study M5 and M9 again and pass, I think I take like 10 times also might not pass lah!! Hahahaha!! :-)

sounds like me last time, no discipline. Lol.

I got insurance.........but dont really keep track what it does. No discipline too.

Glad everyone is alright, props to U for taking the initiative to help.