If not for his colleague’s warning, the consequence could have been dire for Mr Muhamad Rozaidy.
She called out: “Careful, there’s an oncoming vehicle!”
Mr Rozaidy, 31, reacted quickly and drove his Kia Pregio from the middle to the left lane.
Seconds later, a silver Mercedes blitzed past them against the traffic at a speed that he estimated was about 120kmh.
He told The New Paper that from his side mirror, he saw the Mercedes hit a Toyota Vios that overturned and then, a motorcycle.
The horrific accident, which happened on the AYE before the underpass leading to the Tuas Checkpoint, left one man dead and four other people injured.
The driver was mumbling to himself, but when they tried to speak to him, he started shouting at them.Mr Muhamad Rozaidy
The 37-year-old Toyota Vios driver, Mr Liong Kuo Hwa, was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene. His wife, who was in the car, was taken to National University Hospital, along with three others. The four are aged between 34 and 53.
Mr Liong, also known as Jackie, was a media personality who acted in several commercials, films and local television programmes including Code Of Law (2012) and Point Of Entry (2011).
A private bus was also hit by a Mazda that tried to avoid the Mercedes. When TNP contacted AZ Bus, a man confirmed that one of the company’s buses was involved in the accident but no one was hurt.
Police said the 53-year-old Mercedes driver was arrested for causing death by rash act.
Preliminary investigations, said the police statement, revealed that the suspect was travelling along AYE towards Tuas Checkpoint when he was believed to have made a U-turn and travelled against the flow of traffic along AYE.
Mr Rozaidy, a procurement executive, recounted how he stopped his car at the chevron lane at the end of the expressway and called 999.
He then made his way to the accident site by driving around and all the way back.
“I wanted to render assistance and be a witness,” he said.
By the time he and his colleague reached the spot, he saw the injured leaving in ambulances except for the Mazda driver, who had been treated and had a bandage on his arm.
Mr Rozaidy and the man then walked up to confront a young man, who they thought was the Mercedes driver.
Mr Rozaidy was livid especially after he saw the Toyota Vios driver covered in blood.
But the young man clarified that it was his father who had been at the wheel. He apologised to everyone around him and told them that his “father was depressed”.
About 30 minutes later, Mr Rozaidy said two women, believed to be the wife and daughter of the Mercedes driver, arrived at the scene. The younger woman called out “Pa”, and they tried talking to him.
Said Mr Rozaidy: “The driver was mumbling to himself, but when they tried to speak to him, he started shouting at them.”
Videos of the accidents have gone viral on social media platforms, with many expressing shock and disbelief over how the accident had occurred.
A witness, who wanted to be known only as Chris, in his mid 30s, told TNP: “I saw the headlights (of the Mercedes) in front of me and he was charging towards me, so I swerved to the left, and he swept past me.
“It was a very close shave and he was going really fast, he just zoomed past me.”
At the National University Hospital, around noon, TNP spoke to three men and two women who said that they were relatives of the injured motorcyclists.
A woman, who declined to be named, said that all of them present, including the pillion rider, are Malaysians working in Singapore. The injured woman is their sister-in-law.
They said the pillion rider suffered a leg fracture
. They had taken a day off from work and rushed to the hospital when they heard about the accident.
Another male relative swore in anger when he saw the driver’s son at the A&E lobby. He tailed the son for several metres but did not approach him.
When TNP approached the driver’s son, he declined to comment, saying that he “doesn’t know anything”.
Anyone convicted of a rash act causing death shall be liable to imprisonment for up to five years, or a fine, or both.
