2 more fined, banned from driving for high-speed 'leisure drive': Red Subaru went up to 164kmh

Nadine Chua
The Straits Times
Jan 11, 2023

Two more drivers who sped on the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) in a convoy of more than 30 cars were fined and disqualified from driving on Wednesday.

Sean Choong Zhi Hong, 38, and Daryl Ang Qi Hao, 27, are part of the group of nine men who were charged in court in November 2022 with driving recklessly, or at a speed or in a manner that is dangerous to the public.

Choong, a repeat offender, was fined $5,000 and disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for 18 months.

He drove a yellow BMW that day at an average speed of between 149kmh and 167kmh.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yang said that between 2007 and 2022, Choong had committed 12 traffic offences, including speeding.

Ang, who was driving a red Subaru at an average speed of 147kmh to 164kmh that day, was fined $3,000 and disqualified from driving for 15 months.

Some time before Feb 27, 2022, Choong, Ang and several others exchanged text messages about a “leisure drive”.

They discussed which routes to take and when to meet.

On Feb 27, 2022, at about 2am, more than 30 people met in the vicinity of Turf Club Road.

Footage from closed-circuit television cameras captured a convoy of more than 30 cars speeding on the PIE.

In his submissions for Choong’s case, DPP Zhou noted that the convoy was going at high speed in the early hours of the morning and that such conduct poses a high degree of danger to other road users.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Jonathan Lee said that in Ang’s case, it is an aggravating factor that there was significant public disquiet because of his and the other men’s actions.

Videos of the cars speeding along the expressway were also posted on Facebook and viewed widely.

The other men in the convoy, Kenneth Fu Yongli, 32, Louis Lee Ren Jun, 26, Oh Jia Fu, 27, Lincoln Peh Wei Qiang, 26, Lim Yu Shun, 28, Brian Anthony Yap, 25, and Ian Khoo Ye Siang, 27, were dealt with on Tuesday.

Fu and Lee are repeat offenders and were each fined $5,000 and disqualified from driving for 18 months.

The other five men were each fined $3,000 and disqualified from driving for 15 months.

In December 2022, another man who was also speeding that day, Jesmond Tan Yong How, 29, was sentenced to 10 days’ jail and disqualified from driving for two years.

Those convicted of dangerous driving can be fined up to $5,000 and jailed for up to a year.

For subsequent convictions, the maximum penalty is doubled.