'Could've been the last day I saw my daughter': Bus captain's near-miss with trailer which ran red light at Jurong

"That could've been the last day I saw my daughter."

These were the exact words of 42-year-old Tower Transit bus captain Lee Zhen Yang, after dashcam footage of a trailer driver running a red light in Jurong and narrowing missing his bus made its rounds on social media.

Lee, whose daughter turns three at the end of the year, recounted the incident to AsiaOne on Monday (Sept 7).

He said when the the light turned green in his favour, he had disengaged the hand brake and began moving slowly when the "trailer came into my view".

He said that the training he had received taught him to always take multiple glances at all blind spots and the direction of travel.

"So, I was constantly checking while moving forward slowly," Lee said.

Reflecting on the incident, he said that the split second he took to check ended up giving him enough time to apply brakes.

"It probably saved my life," Lee said, shaken by the thought that he would have been absent for his daughter's third birthday in December.

In response to AsiaOne's queries, Tower Transit emphasised that the safety of its commuters and bus captains is its foremost priority.

"Defensive driving habits like Lee's, even when he has the right of way, are part of what we train and reinforce across our fleet," a spokesperson said.

A trailer driver was caught on dashcam footage running a red light on Corporation Road at about 12pm on Sept 4.

The action nearly resulted in an accident with an oncoming Tower Transit double-decker bus and a black saloon car.

No injuries were reported and a collision was avoided, as the trailer driver swerved in time and both the bus and car drivers were able to stop before impact.

The police told AsiaOne on Monday afternoon that they are aware of the incident and are looking into the matter.

The offence of failing to conform to traffic light signals carries a fine of $500 for heavy vehicle drivers and 12 demerit points.

“那可能是我最后一次见到我女儿了。”

这是42岁的Tower Transit巴士队长李振阳的原话。此前，一段行车记录仪拍摄的视频在社交媒体上流传开来，视频显示一名拖车司机在裕廊闯红灯，险些撞上他的巴士。

李女士的女儿年底将满三岁，她在周一（9月7日）向AsiaOne讲述了这起事件。

他说，当绿灯亮起时，他松开了手刹，开始缓慢行驶，这时“拖车进入了他的视线”。

他说，他接受的训练教会他始终要多次观察所有盲点和行驶方向。

“所以，我一边缓慢前进，一边不断地查看情况，”李说。

事后他回忆说，他当时花的那一瞬间去查看，结果却给了他足够的时间踩下刹车。

“这可能救了我的命，”李说道，想到自己可能会错过女儿12月份的三岁生日，他感到十分震惊。

针对 AsiaOne 的询问，Tower Transit 强调，乘客和巴士司机的安全是其首要任务。

一位发言人表示：“像李这样的防御性驾驶习惯，即使他拥有路权，也是我们车队一直在培训和强化的内容之一。”

9 月 4 日中午 12 点左右，一辆拖车司机在公司路闯红灯被行车记录仪拍到。

这一举动险些导致一辆迎面驶来的 Tower Transit 双层巴士和一辆黑色轿车发生事故。

事故中无人受伤，避免了碰撞，因为拖车司机及时转向，巴士和轿车司机都在碰撞前及时停车。

警方周一下午告诉AsiaOne，他们已经知晓此事，正在调查中。

重型车辆驾驶员不遵守交通信号灯的违法行为，将被处以 500 美元的罚款并扣除 12 分。