ITE student who died in car crash at East Coast Road was drink driving

Shaffiq Idris Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Tuesday, Mar 7. 2017

He was killed last year after his car crashed into metal railings at East Coast Road and part of it pierced his chest.

A coroner's inquiry on Tuesday (March 7) into the death of Institute of Technical Education student Sandeep Singh Chhabra, 25, revealed that he had consumed more than the legal limit of alcohol before he went behind the wheel of his late father's Jaguar.

State Coroner Marvin Bay, who found his death to be a misadventure said, Mr Singh had 242 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of his blood.

This was more than three times the legal driving limit of 80 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of blood.

Coroner Bay added: "An average individual would have been moderately to severely intoxicated, and be consequently likely to have an impaired ability to safely handle a motor vehicle on the road.

"(Mr Singh's) demise is a sobering reminder of the dire consequences that ensue from a failure to observe the oft-cited precaution to avoid driving after consuming alcohol."

Before the fatal crash, Mr Singh was believed to have been driving home alone along East Coast Road towards Mountbatten Road after a barbecue party at around 5am on Oct 3 last year.

Court papers did not mention the location of his home or where the party was held.

He was also believed to have lost control of his car at the junction of East Coast and Siglap roads, causing it to hit the centre road kerb.

The impact caused several sections of the centre metal railing to be dislodged and the car spun before it stopped moving near a lamp post.

The police were notified at around 5.30am and Mr Singh, who was wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the scene 30 minutes later.

Coroner Bay said that a forensic pathologist later found he had a gaping wound on his chest during the autopsy.

A metal tubing had ruptured his right lung and the right lobe of his liver.

The pathologist found that he died due to a blunt force penetrating injury to the chest.

On Tuesday, Coroner Bay said: "(Mr Singh's) choice to take the wheel, while in a state of intoxication was most unwise, and for which, he has sadly paid the ultimate price."