Michael Ma Zhen Hu v Public Prosecutor

Michael Ma Zhen Hu pleaded guilty to dangerous driving under s 64(1) of the Road Traffic Act, punishable under s 64(2C)(a). On 16 April 2021, while driving towards Clemenceau Avenue, he stopped behind vehicles queuing at a Traffic Police roadblock whose blinking lights he could see. He turned on his hazard lights and reversed against the flow of traffic for about 50 metres, carried on reversing although he could see at least one officer running towards him, then made a U-turn at a gap in the centre divider and drove off. At least one driver had to swerve left to avoid a collision.

The District Judge fined him $3,500, which he paid, and disqualified him from driving for 15 months from 23 February 2023. He appealed only against the length of the disqualification in Magistrate's Appeal No 9038 of 2023, arguing for six months.

1. Whether the District Judge overstated the potential harm caused by the appellant's driving.
2. Whether the District Judge gave too much weight to the appellant's driving antecedents, including compounded offences.
3. Whether the 15-month disqualification was out of line with Neo Chuan Sheng v Public Prosecutor [2020] 5 SLR 410 and Kwan Weiguang v Public Prosecutor [2022] 5 SLR 766.

The appellant accepted that the Kwan parameters applied: 12 months or below for a first-time offender with a clean record where potential harm is relatively low, and above 12 months where conduct is very dangerous or shows disregard for traffic rules and other road users.

The precautions the appellant said he took, such as stopping, turning on hazard lights and reversing slowly, did not remove the inherent danger of reversing against traffic on a four-lane road for a considerable distance in moderate traffic. His claim that he saw no vehicle behind him was self-serving, since he admitted without qualification the Statement of Facts recording that a driver had to swerve.

Under s 139AA of the RTA compounded offences may be considered. His record included a red-light compounded fine and a drink driving conviction in 2012, and another red-light compounded fine on 11 November 2021, after he had been charged for this offence. The record was poor and called for deterrence, placing the case in the higher Kwan category.

Neo was distinguishable: although the reversing there covered about 203 metres, it happened at about 2.10am with no other road users, and compounded offences had been given no weight there because s 139AA had not yet been enacted. Kwan involved a first-time offender with a clean record whose conduct appeared to be a one-off.

Vincent Hoong J held that the 15-month disqualification order was not manifestly excessive and dismissed the appeal.