A taxi turning into the street killed a woman on this crossing this morning (photo: Apple Daily)
Police arrested a taxi driver after he mowed down and killed a woman on a pedestrian crossing in Sau Mau Ping the early hours of this morning. Taxi driver Mr Or, 64, turned right from Ngau Tau Kok Road into On Shin Road at 4.35am, striking the woman, Ms Ho, 65, who was crossing the road on the pedestrian crossing.
Ho was rushed to United Christian Hospital unconscious and with severe head injuries, and was certified dead just 30 minutes later.
Ho’s upended shopping trolley and sandals remained on the scene as police quizzed the driver. Police say Or is still being held and faces a charge of dangerous driving causing death.
There were 4,810 deaths and injuries involving taxis in 2019, according to Transport Department figures. In the first eight months of 2020, there were 75 deaths and 11,263 injuries on Hong Kong’s roads.
Categories: Law and Enforcement, On the Roads, Transit
If there were a specific law prohibiting “dangerous driving so bad it could have caused death, or damn near did”, it would surely be applied a lot more often than when someone actually dies, and why aren’t the consequences for the driver the same?
Yes, there are possible charges of ‘dangerous driving’ and ‘reckless driving’ but they are rarely brought, and certainly not for all those near-misses that would have snuffed out someone’s life, but for luck or another’s evasive action.