She didn't wear her seat belt and lost her memory after crash

The number of seat belt violations dipped recently, but some hospitals said they are seeing more unbelted traffic accident patients. One woman discovered the hard way the importance of wearing a seat belt. The Sunday Times finds out more.

- Wong Shiying

It would have taken her seconds to fasten her seat belt in a privatehire car, but she did not do so, as she felt Singapore's roads were vesafe.

Ms Nurul Azimah Mas'Ot's complacency nearly got her killed when the vehicle collided with a taxi on the Bukit Timah Expressway on May 30.

The 21-year-old was catapulted from the rear seat to the car's dashboard, causing her to suffer head and spinal injuries.

She was in a coma for three days in Khoo Teck Puat Hospital's (KTPH) intensive care unit, underwent brain surgery and was hospitalised for more than a month.

While therapy has helped Ms Azimah recover her motor skills, she struggles with doing simple things like alighting from a bus or making digital payments.

This is because most of her memory from the last 15 years was gone after she regained consciousness.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force said that on May 30 at about 8.05pm, it was alerted to a road traffic accident on the BKE towards Woodlands before the Mandai Road exit.

Five people were sent to KTPH.

The police said a 69-year-old male taxi driver is assisting with investigations.

Ms Azimah returned to work as an auditor on Sept 4. As she lost a large chunk of her memory, she has to relearn many things, including some aspects of her job.

She said: "It's as though I've never lived those years of my life. I can't recall the people I've met, the places I've been to, or the skills I've learnt.

"Even simple things like how to tap out when I'm getting off a bus or how to use Microsoft programs, I have to relearn them." Traffic Police statistics show the number of violations for failing to wear a seat belt, or wearing it improperly, have fallen recently.

Such violations went down from 5,863 in 2021, to 4,763 in 2022 and 3,559 in 2023.