Yuen Zheng Wen pleaded guilty on March 25, 2025, to driving without due care and attention, resulting in a collision. - Photo: ST
SINGAPORE: After drinking up to four glasses of red wine, a man was driving a female colleague home in his car when he struck a traffic light pole.
Yuen Zheng Wen then accepted his colleague Chin Wei Yeeng’s offer to swop seats with him and pose as the driver of the vehicle, court documents stated.
He did this because he was afraid of the potential consequence of losing his driving licence.
However, Yuen felt remorse and later came clean to the police about what he had done.
On Tuesday (March 25), the 36-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention, resulting in a collision.
He also admitted being part of a conspiracy to perform an act that could obstruct the course of justice. The case involving Chin, 31, is pending.
The accident happened on Feb 16, 2024. Deputy Public Prosecutor Ryan Lim said that earlier that evening, the pair and their colleagues had dinner at a restaurant in Keng Lee Road, near Newton Road, from 6pm to 10.30pm.
Later that night, while driving Chin home, Yuen was trying to execute a turn from Moulmein Road onto the CTE when he lost control of his car. It mounted a kerb and struck a traffic light pole, causing nearly $1,000 in damage.
He has made no restitution for the damage, the court heard.
DPP Lim said: “After the collision, Chin suggested that she take the blame for the collision on behalf of the accused. She also offered to swop seats with the accused.”
Court documents did not disclose why she made the offer, but Yuen accepted it.
Two traffic police officers arrived at the scene shortly before 11pm and approached the pair.
The DPP added that when questioned, Chin lied that she was the driver of the vehicle and that she had earlier drunk a glass of wine. Yuen told similar lies, the court heard.
The two officers then conducted a breathalyser test on Chin, who was arrested when she failed it.
The officers did not administer one on Yuen as they assumed that he was not the driver when the accident occurred. They also allowed him to leave and did not take him in for questioning.
Feeling remorseful, Yuen turned himself in the next day.
On March 25, the DPP urged the court to sentence Yuen to up to eight weeks’ jail, stressing that he had made a conscious decision to drive the car after consuming alcoholic drinks.
Yuen will be sentenced in April. - The Straits Times/ANN
