SMRT bus runs over stray dog in Lim Chu Kang, driver instructed to carry on with journey

A stray dog named Lily was killed when it was run over by an SMRT bus at Lim Chu Kang Road near the police coast guard base on Feb 18.

SMRT told Stomp that the bus captain reported the incident to the Bus Operations Control Centre, which sent a field team to the site and instructed the bus captain to carry on with the journey.

Sharing a photo she took of Lily's carcass in the grass by the road after the accident, Stomper Chariya said: "I covered her up so the crows couldn’t eat her."

She also shared a video showing the blood trail left behind after the dog was dragged to the side of the road.

The Stomper contacted SMRT about the accident and an SMRT customer relations officer replied in an email: "We want to let you know that we were aware of the incident when it happened. Our bus captain (BC) has reported this accident to our Operations Control Centre (OCC) and has filed a police report as well.

"Our findings reveal that a dog was lying in the middle of the road and suddenly stood up. Unfortunately, our BC could not react quickly to avoid a collision and ran over the dog.

"Immediately, our BC got off the bus and checked on the dog's condition, but sadly dog passed away at the scene. Our BC then moved the dog to the roadside after contacting our OCC and continued driving the bus.

"Our OCC followed up by calling for a clean-up team to the spot. As our BC has filed a police report, we will render our full assistance to the police for their investigation of this case. While we regret the accident, we hope we have given you better insights into the circumstances surrounding the incident for your understanding."

But the Stomper is part of a group of dog feeders in the area called Neo Tiew Volunteers who want more to be done and started a petition for the SMRT bus captain to be identified and handed over to the police.

The petition said: "It is understood that Lily was resting on the road around the time of the accident when the bus ran her over. She did not have time to react and as shown in the picture, she was cleanly separated in half.

"The accident was witnessed by one of the coast guards on duty... The driver needs to be responsible for his actions, especially when a life has been lost.

"We hope that there would be proper accountability and follow-up actions by the firm to uphold the standards of road safety."

In response to a Stomp query, Deputy Managing Director of SMRT Buses Vincent Gay said: “On Feb 18 around 6.30am, bus service 975 was travelling along Lim Chu Kang Road when the bus captain felt the vehicle hit an object.

"The bus captain stopped the bus to investigate and discovered it had run over a dog. He immediately reported the incident to the Bus Operations Control Centre, which deployed a field team to the incident site.

"At the same time, the bus captain was instructed to carry on with the journey. When the field team reached the incident site, the dog was no longer at the scene.

"We are sorry that this happened, and we are following up with the relevant authorities on it.”