Gojek driver was told by security guard to reverse but he drove forward into pool, says condo manager

The Gojek driver was told by a security guard at The Hillside condominium to reverse his car, but the driver instead drove forward and ended up in the pool, said the condo manager in a media statement on Friday (March 3).

Stomper Kok had shared a photo of the car at the side of the pool at the Upper Bukit Timah condo.

Here is The Hillside's statement in full:

On the night of Feb 28, at about 9pm, a white Honda Vezel, car plate number SLG 9528G, entered The Hillside condominium through the main gate and drove straight up towards block 341.

The driver was an elderly Chinese man and he was ferrying an elderly Indian lady. At the end of the road which leads to the basement carpark, the driver stopped his car for a few seconds before veering right into a pedestrian pathway and eventually driving into one of the swimming pools.

Subsequent fact-finding by the condominium manager revealed that the passenger was visiting her family at block 343. Our condominium has three blocks – 341, 345 and 343. Each block has three to five passenger lobbies. To reach block 343, the driver should have turned right at the first intersection instead of going straight towards Block 341.

Our CCTV footage revealed that the driver hit some potted plants to the left of the pathway’s entrance, reversed, then moved forward again to hit some plants on the right side of the pathway.

He then reversed again and drove slowly into the pathway. This pathway leads to the clubhouse entrance and the open recreation area next to the swimming pools. There are three swimming pools there – an adult pool, a wading pool and a jacuzzi pool.

The driver drove on for another five seconds before stopping in front of the club house. Our security guard Maniam walked towards the car and spoke to the driver through the wound-down window.

Maniam said that he told the driver to reverse his car but the driver ignored him. CCTV footage shows that the driver continued forward and then turned right into the wading pool.

At this time, it was raining very heavily but all the lights at the clubhouse and pool were turned on and brightly lit. The lights at the pool are set to automatically turn off at 10pm daily.

CCTV footage shows that at about 9.09pm, the driver was seen running out of the car. Almost 25 seconds later, the elderly woman passenger walked out of the car from the left side by herself.

When the driver was waiting at the clubhouse, the driver told security guard Ragu that he is a Gojek ride-hailing driver. Ragu then called the police and the police arrived shortly after.

We are now seeking legal advice to claim for property damage that the car has caused and will be also be writing to Gojek to verify if the driver is indeed a Gojek driver and to inform the company of our claim.

We have now added new potted plants and more of them to partially block the pathway. This pathway is wide because it serves as an emergency fire engine access.

A Gojek spokesman told The Straits Times that the company is looking into the case, and in the process of speaking to the customer and driver to resolve the issue and take necessary action.