Woman dies in crash after she ran red lights & fled law enforcement
A 24-year-old woman surnamed Xie died in a crash after she ran through several red lights and fled law enforcement in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
According to ETtoday, a police officer surnamed Huang signalled Ms Xie to stop after noticing the woman on a motorcycle running red lights at around 1am on Sunday (25 May).
When Ms Xie continued to drive, Mr Huang turned on the police vehicle’s warning lights and sirens and followed her. He also called her to pull over for inspection through a loudspeaker.
Source: 現場新聞 on YouTube
However, Ms Xie only accelerated her vehicle, continuing to run red lights and driving zigzag in the fast lane, as well as the opposite lane.
After an almost 2-minute chase, Ms Xie lost her balance while making a turn and crashed into a car.
She was sent to a hospital, suffering multiple abrasions, bruises, and broken ribs. Unfortunately, she later succumbed to her injuries.
Source: 現場新聞 on YouTube
Family sues police officer who chased after woman
Following the incident, Ms Xie’s mother questioned why the police officer had to chase her daughter to issue a ticket.
She claimed that her daughter was well-behaved and never drank alcohol.
According to the victim’s uncle, Ms Xie, who worked at an accounting firm, was the sole breadwinner of the family.
Her father had just passed away last month, so her death brought her family further emotional turmoil.
Source: ETtoday
According to the family, Ms Xie was just out to buy some items and might have crashed because she became nervous about being chased by the police.
Meanwhile, Mr Huang alleged he was about to stop chasing after Ms Xie’s motorcycle when the accident occurred.
The family has since sued the police officer for manslaughter.
0.09mg of alcohol found in victim’s blood
The prosecution is currently collecting evidence to determine the connection between the car chase and Ms Xie’s death.
An autopsy confirmed the cause to be accidental death due to multiple traumas. A blood test also found 0.09mg of alcohol in Ms Xie’s body.
While this did not reach the 0.15mg drink driving standard, the prosecution believes the values are close, so they plan to do another test to prevent errors.
Meanwhile, the regulations of the National Police Agency in Taiwan state that vehicle pursuit should not be conducted for simple traffic violations.
However, if the officer assesses that an inspection is necessary, they can pursue the car at a safe distance and find an opportunity to stop the vehicle.
The police also questioned why Ms Xie fled law enforcement, as she was not a wanted criminal, did not carry contraband, and initially did not show any sign of drink driving.
Also read: 78-year-old driver ploughs into crowd in Taiwan, kills 3 pedestrians including 2 students
78-year-old driver ploughs into crowd in Taiwan, kills 3 pedestrians including 2 students
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Featured image adapted from 現場新聞 on YouTube, SETN.
