Taxi driver jailed after fatal ‘ghost crash’

A taxi driver with a long record of dangerous driving was sentenced to 20 months in jail on Friday, after he let a radio ghost story distract him enough to crash his cab, killing a passenger.

Chui Hon-kwong, 63, also had his driver’s licence revoked for six years for causing death by dangerous driving.

Chui told police earlier that he thought he had seen ghosts, while listening to a horror programme, as he drove a young couple on the Kwun Tong Bypass at about 3am on April 16 last year.

District Court Judge Eddie Yip Chor-man said the horror programme had distracted Chui from his driving.

“There is nothing much to criticise if a taxi driver listens to a radio programme. But the defendant still listened [to ghost stories] even [though] he felt scared. [Nervousness] will raise bogies [in the mind],” he said.

The court heard that, in his distracted state of mind, Chui over-reacted to sniggering coming from the back seat. In the mirror he could only see the hair on top of two heads, so he swivelled around to take a look.

He discovered the young couple had slumped low on the seat.