Jail for motorist who drove her husband’s rental car carelessly with daughter inside

SINGAPORE – A motorist, who did not have a valid driving licence, took her husband’s rental car without his consent and drove it in a careless manner while her young daughter was in the front passenger seat of the vehicle.

Monica Cheng Mei Ling was also found to have slurred speech and an unsteady gait when a Traffic Police (TP) officer stopped her in February 2020. Her daughter’s age was not disclosed in court documents.

Cheng, 38, who has a history of driving without a licence, then admitted that she had earlier consumed painkillers and a bottle of cough syrup.

When the officer searched the vehicle, he discovered items including 19 codeine tablets used to treat pain and 100 tablets of sedative nitrazepam.

She was arrested and was out on bail when she committed shoplifting in December 2021.

On Thursday, Cheng was sentenced to two months and two weeks’ jail and a fine of $2,200.

For driving without a licence, she was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for two years from her release date.

She had pleaded guilty in March to offences including careless driving, driving without a valid licence, and shoplifting.

Cheng’s husband was sleeping when she drove off in his rental car on Feb 8, 2020.

She was driving along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 when Staff Sergeant Syed Muhammad Nabil Abdul Rahim, who was on a motorcycle, noticed that the car was swerving from left to right repeatedly. It was around 3pm.

He also observed that Cheng did not have proper control of the car, was driving unsteadily, and that her manner of driving was causing the vehicles behind her to brake abruptly or slow down to avoid a collision.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephanie Koh said: “Staff Sgt Syed rode alongside the accused’s car and saw that she had a child in the front passenger seat.

“Worried about the safety of the child, Staff Sgt Syed signalled to the accused to stop at the chevron at the slip road ahead. The accused acknowledged by nodding… However, the accused drove past the chevron with no sign of slowing down.”

Cheng failed to stop at the next chevron even though she was told to do so. Instead, she sped up and drove the car into the Central Expressway.