NYP Students die in car crash at Old Upper Thomson Road (AKA Devils Bend), Driver Phua Jia Chee (19) Arrested and Out on Bail Options

[e3lipse]

Jan 30, 2008
2 poly students killed in horrific car crash



Two others were injured when their car plunged into a ditch and hit tree along Old Upper Thomson Road.
Two polytechnic classmates died when the car they were in plunged into a ditch and hit a tree along Old Upper Thomson Road late on Tuesday night.
They were the rear passengers, identified as Mr David Li, 18, and Mr Mervin Teo, 19. It took rescuers nearly 30 minutes to extricate them from the back seat where they were trapped.

Mr Li, a second year IT student, died on arrival at the Singapore General Hospital while Mr Teo, also a second year student in engineering informatics, died shortly after.

The driver and his front seat passenger, aged 19 and 20, escaped with slight injuries. One of them was discharged from Singapore General Hospital on Wednesday morning.

The four are all students of Nanyang Polytechnic. The horrific crash happened at 11.45 pm as the car, a Mitsubishi Lancer, was travelling along Old Upper Thomson Road towards the Seletar Expressway.

It is not known if the two rear passengers were wearing seat belts.

Anyone with information on the accident can call the traffic police at 1800-547-1818.


The wrecked car




_______________________________


I know i will not be so reckless

[KLS]

Lancer at 11.45pm, sounds to me like speeding.

Its very sad and humbling to see deaths at such young age. My condolences.

[newbie]

I presume no other cars were involved?

Must be speeding like hell. Mechanical failures are almost out of the question.

[e3lipse]

Old Upper Thomson Road
AKA Old Singapore Grand Prix Track
Where devil bend resides.

[spideycoug]

old upper thomson (read racing circuit) + lancer (read "lancerlution") + 19-yr-old driver (read look-at-me-i'm-initialD)... wat other ingredients you need to spell disaster? of cos, plus the fact tat the route not considered "clean"...

but i pity the friends in the back seat who gave their lives becos of this idiot driver who "escaped with slight injuries".

[KLS]

Confirm he'll be feeling guilty as hell. Unfortunately, he will learn his lesson through the really hard way.

[e3lipse]

HWZ says driver is a rich kid

spideycoug bro it's not read look-at-me-i'm-initialD it's read look-at-me-i'm-takumi


I hope actions will be taken against him

[Final Edition]

Why is it call a devil's bend?

[e3lipse]

Sharp corner and many have died.
I nearly met my maker there as well thanks to a ex friend (not anymore) who decided that he wanted to pull his handbrake there and we entered the grass and headed for the trees till he regained control

http://www.spi.com.sg/haunted/ghoulish_trial/main06.htm

[newbie]

Well, I hope the driver don't turn up mad due to great remorse aka. Kaida.

That said, I don't know how he can live for the remainder of his life.

Direct responsible for the loss of 2 lives.

[Epyon]

Why is it call a devil's bend?

Its was part of an old racing circuit back in the earlier years. Its was named Devil's Bend by the then racers whom faced difficulty in nego the bend.

Anyway, lets not jump into conclusions that the driver was speeding and start speculations.

[e3lipse]

Late night spin for 4 buddies ended with two killed
Driver and front seat passenger survived when car plunged into a ditch along Old Upper Thomson Road.
By Carolyn Quek , Diana Othman and Teh Joo Lin
The driver and his front seat passenger, escaped with slight injuries. They were probably saved by the airbag. -- PHOTOS: FRANCIS ONG (ST), FRIENDSTER.COM
View more photos
A LATE night spin for four buddies on what used to be a Grand Prix track here came to a tragic end when the car plunged more than one metre down a slope, and slammed sideways into trees, killing two of them in the back seat.

The two dead passengers - both students of Nanyang Polytechnic, were apparently not wearing seatbelts. The driver, a Republic Polytechnic student and front passenger, also from Nanyang Poly, survived with injuries.

The car was travelling along Old Upper Thomson Road towards Seletar Expressway when the accident happened at about 11.45 pm on Tuesday, police said.

While negotiating a curve not far away from what is famously known as Devil's Bend, the car went off road and moments later, plunged more than a metre down slope before hitting one of the trees in the wooded area.

The four youths, aged between 18 and 20, were trapped in the Mitsubishi Lancer, and rescuers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force had to extricate them.

Mr David Li, 18, suffered head injuries and died on the spot. His friend, Mr Mervin Teo, 19, who was found slumped over him, was taken unconscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital where he died at 1.20am.

The 20-year-old driver and front seat passenger, Mr Tan Han Leng, 20, were sent to Singapore General Hospital. The driver was discharged on Wednesday morning, while Mr Tan suffered cuts and underwent surgery for injuries to his left hand.

Recounting the accident from his hospital bed at SGH, Mr Tan told The Straits Times soon after he emerged from an operation to his injured left hand, that his group of four, together with another two friends who were in another car, had earlier gone for supper at a roti prata restaurant in Thomson Road to celebrate their friend passing his driving test.

Mr Toh Tian Boon, also a Nanyang Polytechnic student, who had just cleared his driving test, then asked where he could try out his newly acquired driving skills.

Mr Tan said he suggested the nearby former Grand Prix track at Old Upper Thomson Road, which he warned the group was 'notorious for accidents' and advised them to belt up.

After driving one round, Mr Toh left the four as he had to send his passenger, a girl student from Nanyang Polytechynic, home.

Mr Tan said his group decided to go for another spin as they felt 'bored'. That was when the tragedy struck.

'Our car suddenly skidded. For a few moments, I felt weightless. Next, I remember the car landing on its sides,' Mr Tan, who was the front seat passenger, recalled.

'I called out to my two friends sitting at the back. There was no response from them, except heavy breathing.'

Mr Tan's mother, Madam Linda Loh, 58, an administrator, said she was told of the accident when her son called her on his mobile phone from the scene after midnight.

'He sounded panicky and just told me 'Mom. Accident. I am okay but my two friends are critically injured. He just hanged up,' she told The Straits Times while waiting for her son to come out of operation at SGH on Wednesday afternoon.

Madam Loh said the four friends were 'as close as brothers' and often went out together.

Mr Li was cremated at Mandai Crematorium on Wednesday afternoon.

Friends remember him as 'chubby and cheerful'. Mr Hoe Guofeng, a full-time national serviceman, 22, who was in the same basketball group as Mr Li about seven years ago, said: 'In our eyes, he was always a cute and chubby kid as he was the youngest in our clique.'

'He was very chatty, always cheerful and entertaining. You will never meet as cheerful a friend as him.'

Friends of Mr Li from Nanyang Polytechnic and his alma mater, Mayflower Secondary School, paid their last respects to him at Mandai Crematorium.

His distraught elder brother, Dennis, 27, an operations assistant, said he last saw Mr Li at home at about 8.30 pm on Tuesday night before he went out to meet his friends.

Miss Judy Chen Nien Tsu, 29, an adult student from Nanyang Poly, described Mr Li and Mr Teo as 'easy-going and fun-loving, with positive attitudes'.

Mr Li's old schoolmate at Mayflower, Mr Farid Rahmad, 18, added: 'He's a joker. He loved to joke and often made us laugh.'

Anyone with information on the accident can call the traffic police at 1800-547-1818.

Why is it call a devil's bend?

Its was part of an old racing circuit back in the earlier years. Its was named Devil's Bend by the then racers whom faced difficulty in nego the bend.

Anyway, lets not jump into conclusions that the driver was speeding and start speculations.

Latest news is that the driver is from RP, the rest NYP

Bro, putting someone my age (19) , in a car , and in old upper thomson road. There's a tendency some will speed and want to show off to their friends.

They don't know their limits as well as the cars limits.

From hardwarezone

SERIOUSLY I KNOW THAT DRIVER, HIS PARENTS IS RICH, HE STAY IN A BUNGALOW, AND HE THINKS ITS LIKE FUN TO SPEED, HES HAS BEEN A ****-UP PERSON SINCE SEC SCH, HE SCREWED ME ONCE AND THEN I NO LONGER SEE HIM AS A FRIEND NOW, U KNOW WHAT? MY FRIEND SAY

BOTH DIED
1 IN HOSPITAL AND HES AT HOME? KNN CHEESEPIE

my sis just went down to visit her classmate from NYP who happened to be involved in an accident at old thomson road. unfortunately her classmate is one of the victims who got killed.

apparently the driver just got his license and crashed the car, killing 3 passengers behind. the driver and front passenger escaped death.

reminder to those who just passed your license... dun yaya papaya. CNY period already please take care.

Remember ytd night at 1am plus my friend in car accidnet??

They passed away le :'(..... Haizzzz now in conunseller office.... consueling us.

[Kungfu_Husky]

Got a mugshot of the stupid driver?

[e3lipse]

Got a mugshot of the stupid driver?

muggish indeed

[Kungfu_Husky]

Got a mugshot of the stupid driver?

muggish indeed

Wah lau eh! What a 'kiampa bin'!

[Google Bot]