Woman in crash who sued SMRT Buses for over $5m gets $17k

A driver who sued SMRT Buses for more than $5 million in damages following an accident was awarded $17,373.16 after a judge found that her neck injuries were not caused by it.

- Samuel Devaraj

Judicial Commissioner Alex Wong, in a judgment dated Jan 20, noted that Ms Lee Sim Leng's injuries were the result of cervical spondylosis, a pre-existing degenerative disease that affected her neck.

He said the existence of the condition was brought to her attention by the accident.

Ms Lee, who was 51 years old when the accident happened on Aug 26, 2013, had suffered whiplash after an SMRT bus collided with her car in Bukit Batok Central.

Although she was injured, she indicated that she did not require an ambulance after the collision.

The judicial commissioner said that while he disagreed with Ms Lee's position that the accident was the cause of her neck condition, he accepted that she genuinely believed this to be the case.

In his judgment, the judge criticised SMRT Buses' depiction of Ms Lee as an opportunist.

He said: "I did not find the defendant's characterisation of the claimant as a liar and profiteer to be helpful or justified.

"The plaintiff is clearly suffering from major depressive disorder and has been so suffering for decades before the accident."

Ms Lee, who was represented by Mr Wee Jee Kin and Mr Joseph Goh Chye Hock from JK Law Chambers, had sought a total of $4,202,561.55 in general damages and $1,273,608.12 in special damages.