GEORGE TOWN: The teen driver who crashed into nine cars while driving against traffic on the North-South Expressway carries a “OKU Card” (disabled person’s card) issued by the Welfare Department.
A photo of the card, which is making its rounds on social media, classified the 19-year-old as suffering from a “learning disorder” disability.
An official from the Penang Welfare Department verified the card as genuine, telling FMT it was issued to her in 2011.
“Doctors recommended her to go through a special education programme when she was in Form One,” the officer said, without elaborating.
On Tuesday, the teen driver drove her Proton Gen.2 car against traffic at a stretch of the North-South Expressway near Sungai Dua.
Police said she made a sudden U-turn while driving on the middle of the road, just metres before the Sungai Dua (northbound) toll plaza.
She first swiped three cars and then later drove her car against traffic for 5km before colliding head on with a Perodua Kelisa driven by a 26-year-old man.
Mohamad Fandi Rosli, a factory worker who was soon going to be a father, was killed on the spot in his Kelisa car.
The teen’s car spun and hit five other vehicles, including a factory workers’ van and a motorcycle.
Police initially said they found methamphetamine in her urine sample. However, yesterday police said “it was not meth, but just amphetamine.”
Amphetamine is a drug commonly used for attention deficit disorder.
Police have put the teen girl on remand for four days until Saturday to investigate her for driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs under the Road Transport Act 1987.
Investigators are also probing her for consumption of illegal drugs under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Police say they will likely charge the teen this week.