35-year-old Rajwinder Singh Grewal was behind the wheel when his car crashed, killing a young passenger.
An Indian Uber driver accused of falling asleep at the wheel and causing a fatal crash in Perth has been allowed to work as a truck driver while out on bail. He was working a 22-hour shift, The West Australian reported.On Monday, 35-year-old Rajwinder Singh Grewal was given permission to work as a freight driver between 9am and 4pm, subject to a curfew outside those hours. He remains banned from driving passenger transport.The court heard that the alleged incident happened on March 28 at around 3.40am in Lynwood, when Grewal was driving a silver Toyota Kluger with a mother and her two young children as passengers. The car crashed into a tree after he fell asleep at the wheel.
A seven-month-old child was killed in the accident, while a woman and another child were injured.Grewal is accused of working for up to 22 hours before the collision. Police told the court they had obtained dashcam footage from inside the car showing the man asleep several times before the accident.He has been charged with one count of dangerous driving causing death and two counts of dangerous driving occasioning bodily harm.
He has yet to enter pleas and is scheduled to face Perth Magistrates’ Court on August 11.During Monday’s bail change hearing, his attorneys said he took breaks throughout the day and was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They also said he was not speeding at the time of the accident.Prosecutors say fatigue was the main cause of the accident, and that Grewal was doing a ride-sharing job and another freight driving job at the same time.An Uber spokesperson said the company had “fatigue management processes and tools” that forced drivers to take an 8-hour break from the app after working a cumulative 12 hours, but Grewal was also working a second job driving freight, 7News reported.Following the incident, Grewal had previously worked as a ride-share driver and has since been banned from transporting passengers. Under the new bail conditions, he is only allowed to work as a freight driver during specific hours.Grewal left court wearing a hat, sunglasses and a surgical mask and did not answer reporters’ questions.