Ok, bad me not in bed...
Policeman coerced girl to oral sex - jailed 12 months
SAF Officer killed a cyclist while driving intoxicated - jailed 4 months
Overall reaction: WHAT THE FUCK.
Sadly, the cyclist was a good member at togoparts..... My condolences to the family of Alvin Boey...
There it is again.... loopholes in law.... REad this letter to ST(not published yet) by discolite. Rather good, i must say.
"I refer to the article "Soldier knocked down cyclist after drinking binge", published in the Straits Times on February 27, 2004.
This report stated that a man, who had taken in twice the legal limit of alcohol which would have allowed him to be safely behind the steering wheel, knocked down and killed a cyclist, demonstrating the addled responsiveness typical of the inebriated state. For this, he was jailed for four months.
It is appalling to think that so little value is placed on a human life. The message being sent out is that a cyclist, acting fully within his rights according to the Road Traffic Act, is expandable; when you compare the punishment meted out to the policeman who had coerced a girl into oral sex - 12 months' imprisonment - the four months First Sergeant Koe Seng Wah will face in jail is a laughable pittance.
The Road Traffic Act, Chapter 276, Part IV, paragraph 64 states that "any person [who drives] in a manner which is dangerous to the public... shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $3,000 or to a term not exceeding 12 months or both". However, in other countries, drivers have been found guilty of using their cars as instruments of homicide, and charged accordingly. "Reckless driving" doesn't take into account the damage inflicted; what this law suggests is that he would have faced the same amount of jailtime had he knocked down a lamppost, or even if he had completely avoided hitting anybody.
But this is a human life we're talking about. It is about the responsibility that piloting a heavy vehicle which could kill an innocent passerby (or cyclist) with a spin of the steering wheel entails. Sergeat Koe's mitigating plea - that he "had swerved right after he hit Mr Boey to avoid running over him" - only demonstrates a lack of remorse and a repugnant inability to grasp the true consequence of his actions.
The government needs to act to make the roads safe for everybody, drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. Cycling, an environtally-friendly, healthy form of transport, should be actively promoted to reduce vehicular congestion on the road and excessive pollution. That it is not is a shame in itself, let alone putting cyclists at the mercy of drivers who have now been given a veritable green light as far as reckless driving goes ("I can risk the four months").
With this letter I beseech the public to look into your actions and recognise that your moves can impact on others - sometimes dramatically, tragically so.
- Discolite"
