SINGAPORE – What was supposed to be a 20-minute taxi ride from the airport turned into a harrowing experience for Winnie Lee on July 6, after the driver passed out while travelling on the expressway while she and her son were seated at the back.

The 36-year-old stay-at-home mother and content creator told The Straits Times on July 8 that she was using her phone when she first noticed branches from the bushes in the ECP’s centre divider brushing against the ComfortDelGro taxi’s windows.

It initially did not raise the alarm bells in her, as the driver soon corrected the taxi’s course, but she thought he had looked sleepy, after catching a glimpse of him through the rearview mirror and hearing him yawn.

Lee then started talking to him to check if he was alright, but eventually asked him to stop the car as she thought it was dangerous for him to continue driving in his state.

She thought the driver had sounded confused when he replied to ask where he should stop, with that being his last response to her before the car began veering back towards the barrier.

“I was in panic mode. I did not know what to do,” she said. “At that point, I thought of jumping out of the car.”

But she then decided to try slowing down the vehicle by opening her door on the right side of the taxi and pushing it against the barrier to generate more friction.

As the taxi came to a gradual stop after what she said felt like minutes, Lee and her six-year-old son were helped out of the vehicle by another driver, who had noticed the taxi’s swerving and stopped his own car at a distance behind.

The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the incident at the ECP towards MCE at about 12.50pm that day.

The 73-year-old male taxi driver was unconscious when taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the authorities added, and had not regained consciousness as at July 8.

When contacted on July 8, Comfort...