Mr. Xie's son died instantly in a car accident. New Express reporter Zhiwei Bi / photo The traffic police defined it as a traffic accident, but the parties involved considered it as death by negligence, and the case was left unresolved for half a year. New Express reporter Jianhua Ruan. Last August 16th morning, a serious car accident occurred in a high-end residential area in Tianhe, resulting in the instant death of a three-year-old boy, with his mother Ms. Li and nanny Ms. Tang severely injured. A once happy family was thus broken. Half a year later, the boy's father Mr. Zhang (a pseudonym) approached the reporter, crying that the incident had still not been resolved. He claimed that after the accident, the female driver Ms. Lu was released four hours later, and the investigation results of the incident have not been received to this day.
Review: Luxury Car Lost Control and Rammed onto the Sidewalk
On the morning of August 16 last year, Ms. Li, who lived in a high-end residential area in Tianhe, brought her three-year-old son Liliang (a pseudonym) and nanny Ms. Tang to the neighborhood supermarket to buy groceries. At around 9:50, when the three were near a parking lot entrance and exit, they were hit by a white luxury car that suddenly rammed onto the sidewalk from behind. When the ambulance arrived, Liliang had already died due to severe injuries, while Ms. Li and Ms. Tang were seriously injured and immediately sent to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University for emergency treatment. Ms. Tang suffered severe fractures in her lower limbs, pelvis, and femur and is still hospitalized to this day.
Afterward, the Tianhe traffic police issued a road traffic accident determination letter, determining that the owner of the offending car bore primary responsibility, while Ms. Li and others bore secondary responsibility. In December last year, Mr. Zhang, Ms. Li's husband, applied for a review to the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau Traffic Police Corps due to objections to the original determination, and the event was re-investigated and determined.
On the day of the incident, Mr. Li, a fellow resident of the same neighborhood, happened to be driving a car behind them. He described how the white car ahead suddenly swerved its steering wheel sharply to the right. "The speed was very fast, possibly mistaking the brake for the accelerator." He insisted, "It was definitely on the non-motorized vehicle lane, one hundred percent."
Progress: Case Still Unresolved After Half a Year
Recently, Mr. Zhang approached this reporter, saying that the incident has still not been resolved. "Half a year has passed, my son's justice hasn't been obtained yet, I feel like each day lasts a year." And the progress of the incident was unexpected. "The police released her (the offender) after four hours, they have never apologized to us until today, and they even hired lawyers to argue with us," said Mr. Zhang. When he received the traffic accident determination letter, which stated that his wife should bear secondary responsibility, he was shocked, "Walking properly on the sidewalk and still being hit by a car, and still having to take responsibility?"
Mr. Zhang believed that the traffic accident determination letter issued by the traffic police was based on the nature of road traffic, but since the incident occurred within the neighborhood, it belonged to a non-road traffic accident. "This isn't a traffic accident crime, but rather a crime of negligent homicide." To prove his point, he found relevant government departments, as well as the neighborhood management office, confirming that the roads in this neighborhood are under closed management and not within the scope of municipal road maintenance. He submitted a review application to the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau Traffic Police Corps, but the new investigation results also took a long time to come out.
Mr. Zhang stated that next, he plans to sue the other party in court to seek justice for his son. He believes that since the incident occurred on a neighborhood road, it should be regarded as a crime of negligent homicide rather than a traffic accident crime, hoping for fair handling.
Lawyer's Opinion:
Should Bear the Crime of Negligent Homicide?
Lawyer Yixiang Tan from Guangdong XuRui Law Firm believed that according to the Supreme People's Court's "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Law in the Trial of Criminal Cases of Traffic Accidents", "In areas outside the scope of public transportation management, driving motor vehicles or using other means of transportation causing death or significant loss to public or others' property, constituting a crime, shall be sentenced according to Articles 134, 135, and 233 of the Criminal Law respectively."
"If the neighborhood roads do not belong to municipal roads, then the judgment should follow the above interpretation," said Tan Yixiang. According to the analysis of the case details, the offender Ms. Lu should bear the crime of negligent homicide.