An e-scooter rider was fined $1,500 last Tuesday and had his e-scooter confiscated and destroyed for causing hurt through negligence, after he collided into a 7-year-old boy along a pedestrian pathway near Block 549 Woodlands Drive 44 on 14 Nov last year.
Instead of helping the child, who was sent flying a few metres away after the crash, the e-scooter rider yelled at the boy, “Why you block my way?”
According to the Chinese daily, the child had been walking home after classes that afternoon with his father, 35-year-old Mr Wu Zhiqiang, and Mr Wu’s friend Mr Ma Guofeng, 34. The trio noticed the e-scooter rider, 22-year-old Du Aiwen approaching them and moved to the left side of the sidewalk so he could go by.
Du, who had been ferrying his wife, stepped on the accelerator and sped up for some reason. Right then, the child suddenly stepped towards the right and was struck by Du’s scooter. Du and his wife were thrown off the scooter while the boy was sent flying for about two metres before he hit his head on the ground, according to his father.
While the child burst into tears, Du alighted from the scooter and shouted at him, “Why you block my way?” Enraged, the child’s father confronted Du only for Du to raise his fists and threaten to hit him. Mr Wu recounted: “I saw that he could not be reasoned with, so I called the police immediately.”
Du tried to flee the scene when he realised that Mr Wu was contacting the police but Mr Ma managed to restrain Du until police officers arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, the child was sent to the hospital where doctors found that he had suffered bruises on his face and injuries on his left hand. While the child did not suffer any fractures, he vomited thrice after the accident due to the trauma of the experience.
The judge noted that the child was not severely hurt, in sentencing Du. Du could have faced a maximum jail term of six months and/or fined up to $$2,500 for causing hurt through negligence.