About a week after his last Primary School Leaving Examination paper last October, Evergreen Primary School student Ravi (not his real name) had just left school after an excursion.
He said he had walked briskly across a road junction, with the “red man” signal on, to catch an SMRT service 858 bus to get to his home three stops away.
Seconds later, he was lying in the middle of the road after slipping when he saw a car heading towards him. The vehicle ran over his legs and his mother is upset no action will be taken against the driver.
Speaking to The New Paper last Thursday, Ravi, 13, said: “Even though I was conscious, I couldn’t feel any pain.”
Ravi’s mother, Madam Rajinde Kaur, 30, admitted her son had jaywalked. He was rushed to the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital with a fractured left ankle, his skin torn from his right calf.
Witnesses outside the school had told Madam Kaur the driver had stopped his vehicle.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force told TNP it received a call for an ambulance at Woodlands Avenue 4 at about 1.35pm.
Madam Kaur said she received a report from the Traffic Police (TP), in February, indicating the case was closed and no action would be taken against her son. TNP understands no action will be taken against either party.
But the sales consultant is unhappy and told her Member of Parliament, Transport Minister Mr Khaw Boon Wan, about the incident during a Meet-the-People Session last month. She also engaged a lawyer for insurance claims.
She said: “Kids are expected to make mistakes. What makes me so mad is that the driver did not apologise and not once did he come to visit at the hospital.”
Singapore Road Safety Council chairman Bernard Tay said everyone had a role to play in road safety.
He said: “When you’re driving a vehicle, you always have to look out. Green or red light, you still have to look. Everyone is responsible for their safety.”
Parents were divided over the incident.
A father of three, who wanted to be known as Mr Ng, 39, felt both driver and the teen were at fault.
He said: “The driver should know it’s a school zone, and drive carefully and slowly. But the parents of the boy should also have educated him and told him not to jaywalk.”
A parent, who wanted to be known as Mrs Chua, 36, with two kids aged eight and 10, said: “I make my children read articles of accidents and discuss how they could have been avoided.”
Madam Kaur told TNP she did not reprimand Ravi for jaywalking, but told him to learn from his mistake.
Clinical psychologist Dr Carol Balhetchet, who specialises in family, children and youth, felt this might send the wrong signal.
She said: “By relinquishing the child’s responsibility, the child will never learn. In this case, parents should advise and teach their children to let them know that every action bears a consequence.”
tnp@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on April 6, 2017.
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