Man gets 4 weeks' jail for road rage against lorry driver
Unhappy that a lorry driver had overtaken his van, a man sped up and assaulted the driver, and removed his ignition key.
Tang Chiap Huat, 48, was sentenced to four weeks' jail on Tuesday (Aug 22) for road rage.
He admitted to slapping Indian national Sivalingam Rathinam, punching the 30-year-old twice and jostling with him for the vehicle key, causing injuries to the victim. He did all these along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) on Oct 20 last year.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhuo Wenzhao said that at 10.15pm that day, the victim, who works as a construction worker, was driving the lorry on the PIE slip road of Jurong West to Tuas when he overtook Tang's van.
Tang perceived the victim to have overtaken his vehicle abruptly and was unhappy about this.
He then sped up and overtook the lorry before stopping in front of it.
He got out of the van and approached the lorry driver, then opened the door at the driver's seat and slapped the victim on his right cheek.
He also punched the victim twice in the chest, removed the lorry's key and threw it onto the ground.
The victim tried to stop him from snatching the key, and suffered some abrasion to his right index finger while struggling with Tang.
Tang drove off after the incident.
The victim was treated for bruises on the face and chest, and abrasion on the right index finger.
Tang, who was represented by Mr Lim Wee Teck, has been given until Sept 6 to start his sentence, as he wants to arrange for someone to take over his work duties as a driver.
He could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt.
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