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SCMP Reporter

Bus driver who jumped red light sent to jail, banned from driving
In a sign the courts are taking recent public outcry over dangerous driving to heart, a judge yesterday jailed for 20 months a bus driver who ran a red light and killed a taxi driver.
Wong Ton-fan,  50, had pleaded not guilty on January 14 to dangerous driving causing death arising from the fatal accident in Cheung Sha Wan on April 30 last year.
District Court Judge Mary Yuen Lai-wah found him guilty of the charge after trial on January 19.
In addition to imposing the 20-month sentence, she also disqualified Wong from driving for 21/2 years.
The court heard yesterday that Wong, just eight months before the accident, had been issued a fixed-penalty ticket for running another red light in Nathan Road.
Judge Yuen said that in arriving at a sentence for Wong she had taken into account recent traffic accidents that had shocked the city and mounting public concern over road safety.
'You should have noticed in the news recently that lives have been taken away in cases of dangerous driving,' the judge told Wong. 'I understand that the public has placed certain expectation upon the court in passing sentences for offences of this nature and I have to consider public opinion.'
She also criticised Wong for ignoring the red light. She said he should have noticed it well before the bus reached the pedestrian crossing because the road at that point was wide and straight.
'If it was your own family members walking on the road at that time, I am sure you would have been a lot more careful,' Judge Yuen said.
Wong had been driving the same Kowloon Motor Bus route, number 45, between Kowloon City Ferry and Lai King, near Kwai Chung, for three years.
His victim, taxi driver Chong Kai-man, 54, was helping a passenger to load goods into his taxi when he was struck and killed by Wong's bus.
Another pedestrian, Law Chi-chung, was also injured in the accident.
Chong's daughter attended yesterday's hearing but declined to comment on the case.
On the day of his death, Chong had picked up a passenger, Lee Kam-ha, at the airport.  Ms Lee asked him to stop at a building on Cheung Sha Wan Road to pick up some goods samples before going to Sha Tin. At about 12.40pm, Chong parked his taxi opposite the building and offered to help her collect the goods.
Shortly afterwards there was a screech of brakes and Chong was seen lying on the road near Wong's double-decker bus.
The court heard that he had been thrown into the air after being hit by the bus. Chong had suffered serious head injuries and was certified dead before he was taken to Caritas Medical Centre.
Defence barrister Richard Wong Tat-wah  said in mitigation that Wong, a bus driver for seven years, had suffered bouts of depression caused by his deep remorse at having killed Chong.
Wong, who burst into tears while awaiting his sentence in the dock, had been advised by doctors to stay in hospital where he had been receiving treatment since before the Lunar New Year, his lawyer said, but he ignored the advice and attended court.
Richard Wong said his client did not have a criminal record and was a responsible husband and father of three. He said Wong had become a watchman after the offence.



20 months for mowing down cabbie