Mr Ip, 76, was riding a bike in Yuen Long when he was crushed by a cement truck
Police have arrested the driver of a cement truck for dangerous driving after he crushed a man on a bike to death in Yuen Long this afternoon.
Driver Mr Wong, 65, was turning left onto Tong Yan San Tsuen Road from Castle Peak Road – Ping Shan, when he struck Mr Ip, 76, who was reportedly cycling on the narrow section of pavement between the railings and the road.
Ip was seriously injured, his bike mangled against the railings, and was certified dead at the scene. Wong drove around 100 metres before realising he had hit the septuagenarian victim.
Police say Wong is still being detained.
Government figures show cycling casualties up 60% in the first 11 months of 2020, with 2,334 casualties reported from January to November 2020. “The main contributory factors of the traffic accidents involving bicycles were losing control of vehicle, careless cycling and driving inattentively among drivers and cyclists, which together accounted for over 80% of these accidents,” says a Transport Department spokeswoman.
The location of the smash – Wong was reportedly cycling on the pavement between the road and the railings. The driver of the cement truck drove all the way to the Esso garage before realising he had struck someone.
Categories: Law and Enforcement, On the Roads
How did cement lorry driver manage to hit (and kill) somebody who was cycling on the PAVEMENT? Why is a cement lorry anywhere near a pavement?
From the police spokesman, and the pictures of the crash and the scene, it looks like he was cycling on that narrow bit of pavement between the railing and the road (it’s only about 18 inches wide). My guess would be he thought it would be safer than being on the actual road. It’s hard to say (and absolutely no victim blaming here), but if he’d been actually in the road, the truck MIGHT have given him more space (if he’d seen him at all). As it was, perhaps the truck wheels slightly mounted the pavement as it turned left (this happens a lot), or just something sticking out from the truck crushed the man against the railings, knocking him off and then crushing him under the wheels. Anyway, it’s a horrible crash, RIP the victim.