Motorcyclist James George Palin Charged In Road Rage Incident [Dashcam Video]
Another Palin was arrested and subsequently sentenced in connection with a road rage incident in Singapore that was partially captured on dashboard camera video.
Motorcyclist James George Palin, that is.
In the encounter, Palin, 33, allegedly punched through the window of the driver’s side window in the incident, and then calmly took off with his female companion.
Palin recently received a court sentence of three weeks behind bars from the confrontation that occurred in mid-November, but he is out on $15,000 bail while the case is appealed. Under Singapore law, Palin could have been sent to jail for up to one year and fined $5,000 as a result of the conviction.
The dashcam video (see embed below) appears to be somewhat ambiguous as to who bumped who first on Tanjong Katong Road in Singapore. Palin’s bike allegedly hit the back bumper of a car operated by Chiang Pak Chien, whose Volkswagen was in front of him, and kept driving.
According to the Straights Times, “Mr Chiang, 43, who was with his girlfriend, Valerie Tan Hsu Phen, 42, overtook Palin, who had not stopped his motorcycle. Palin sped past him again and braked immediately in front of the car. Mr Chiang slammed on his brakes to avoid crashing into the motorcycle and told his girlfriend to call the police. This was when Palin walked over to the driver’s side and punched the glass, which shattered over the couple.”
Since cars operate on the left side of the road in Singapore because of the country’s history as part of the British empire, the driver’s side window is on the right.
The couple was treated for cuts on their body and face from flying glass. The female passenger sounds terrorized in the audio portion of the footage and apparently underwent counseling afterward. The biker who purportedly was Palin can be heard asking, “what the f— are you doing?” as he confronted the driver.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwKMffbTPew
Palin’s lawyer maintains that the car bumped his client’s bike first.
Palin nonetheless expressed regret about the road rage episode and offered to pay the couple’s medical expenses, as well as the damage to their car, but they reportedly declined. Human Resources indicates that James George Palin, a British national who works in Singapore as a regional director for a recruitment company, has gone on a sabbatical from his job.
The presiding judge determined, “Palin’s reaction was excessive and totally disproportionate and agreed with the prosecution that there should be a jail term.”
[image credit: YouTube]
