smrt suspends driver after woman's fall

in what is a shocking but rare occurence while travelling on a bus, a woman, madam ding weibo, age 54 years old, fell and hit her head on a seat, after the smrt bus driver allegedly braked suddenly, leaving her in a coma.

this incident happened on sunday evening, after madam ding and her daughter, ms ding xiao sui, 27, had been shopping in orchard road and took bus service 167 outside the heeren shopping mall to commute back to their home at cantonment close.

after hitting her head, madam ding immediately fell unconscious and yesterday, her condition had deteriorated.

doctors told madam ding's husband, mr you bu jia, 58, that his wife's brain swelling had worsened despite an emergency operation on sunday night to remove part of her skull, to relieve pressure in her head.

mr you and his family who hails from the poeple's republic of china are singapore permanent residents and have been living in singapore for more than 10 years.

my comments:

surely, our thoughts and prayers are with the family.

i commute by bus and mrt daily (also by taxi occasionally) and as a 'young' man of 61 years, i have to be extra careful when i board and alight from the bus/train. often times, as all the seats are taken, i have to stand throughout the journey and this is where things can go wrong (especially on the bus) because most of the buses are pretty new and the braking system is powder-ful and super effective.

and things can turn dicey when the bus driver applies the brakes and this will cause passengers (like children, infant-in-arms, pregnant women, the elderly and those who are physically/medically challenged) to hang onto the poles/hand graps/seat handles with whatever strength they can muster for dear life. i remember there were times i almost lost my grip and sometimes, because the driver applies the brakes suddenly, i simply couldn't hold on and landed on fellow passengers, who thankfully prevented me from falling.

therefore, travelling on buses especially presents challenges to people like myself who fall into the group of those who are 'more fragile' than those who are in their prime of life.

for this reason alone, i have taken up a personal accident policy which is not only affordable but this plan comes with what i term as a unique benefit (not covered in all other insurance products) falling under the permanent disablement table of benefits covering even your fingers and toes.

if like me, and knowing just commuting daily is fraught with risks and uncertainty, please take my superficial (but not comprehensive) advice, don't leave home without at least a personal accident plan.