Five men arrested in connection with a crash in July after police commandeered vehicles to stop road racers in Kwun Tong were charged with dangerous driving yesterday. One of the men was also charged with assaulting a police officer. The five, who are aged between 26 and 36, were released on bail. They are due to appear in Kwun Tong Court on Monday. Two other men aged 23 and 25 were released without charge. On July 13 last year, police stopped and used three taxis, a truck and a privately owned car to form a roadblock as part of an operation aimed at stopping road racers. Eight people were injured when several racers ploughed into the commandeered vehicles at the Mong Kok-bound Kwun Tong bypass near Kwun Tong Ferry Pier. Commissioner of Police Tang King-shing publicly apologised the next day and admitted there had been an error of judgment in the operation. He also promised to review procedures used in stopping illegal road races. A police committee was formed to study alternative tactics. Days after the crash, new guidelines were issued to all traffic officers on such operations, encouraging an 'evidence collection' approach rather than the use of roadblocks. At a Legislative Council panel meeting in September, Chief Superintendent Mike Demaid-Groves of the force's traffic branch said it was not the policy of police to put the public at risk, nor to use vehicles belonging to members of the public to block a road in order to intercept illegal road racers. He also suggested amending the Road Traffic Ordinance to make it easier to prosecute road racers, and to increase the penalties.
