SINGAPORE – A food and beverage manager, who drove a Nissan GTR reaching a top speed of 219 kmh in an illegal race that beat a Lamborghini, was sentenced to two weeks’ jail on Thursday (Apr 13).
Koo Kwok En, 37, was also fined a total $2,500 and banned from driving for 18 months after admitting to taking part in the illegal race, dangerous driving by accelerating and travelling at very high speed, and driving without insurance coverage along Seletar Link at 12.16am on May 9, 2015.
Two other counts of racing and dangerous driving at about 12.20am the same day were considered in sentencing.
The court heard that Koo, who drove his wife’s Nissan GTR, had asked Kevin Pratama Chandra, 24, to race with him in his Lamborghini.
The duo and their friends were part of a group who had parked their high performance cars along the left side of Seletar Link that day.
At that time, Traffic Police officers on anti-illegal racing operations saw the GTR and Lamborghini drive off Seletar Link in the direction of Tampines Expressway (TPE).
When Kevin gave the “OK ready” signal to start the race, the two vehicles started moving forward and accelerated rapidly, driving at very high speeds.
Initially, Kevin was ahead of Koo who eventually overtook him. The in-car camera in the GTR showed that its speed was 219kmh briefly towards the end of the race, which exceeded the speed limit of 60kmh.
Spectators cheered at the side of the road during the race.
Neither Koo nor Kevin had a permit from the police to take part in a “competition of speed”.
Koo admitted he knew that his actions had caused danger to himself and other road users.
Kevin is claiming trial and his case is at pre-trial conference stage.
Koo, represented by Mr Raymond Lye, could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to $2,000 and banned from driving for at least 12 months for illegal racing.
The maximum penalty for dangerous driving is a $3,000 fine and 12 months’ jail, and for the insurance charge, a $1,000 fine and three months’ jail plus 12 months’ disqualification.
This article was first published on April 13, 2017.
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