bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

JULIE CHU

A bus driver who claimed he fainted shortly before ramming his vehicle into a bus stop and killing a woman walked free from Tuen Mun Court yesterday.
KMB driver Yau Chung-fat, 57, had denied one count of dangerous driving causing death, attributing the accident last year to a heart condition of which he was not aware.
Deputy Magistrate Hui Chun-sing concluded Yau was not guilty as he could not rule out "entirely" that the blackout was due to the previously unknown heart disease.
The magistrate said he found all the evidence given by eyewitnesses and a medical expert to be consistent with the defendant's medical state.
On June 3 last year, Yau was driving a 14-year-old double decker bus along Lung Mun Road, Tuen Mun, when the vehicle went out of control and crashed into the bus stop.
The bus hit Kot Sheung-mui, 41, who was waiting at the stop, and she died on the same day. Five others who were also waiting suffered injuries.
During the trial, Yau said he had lost consciousness at the time of the accident.
Yau acknowledged he knew he had high blood pressure, the court heard, but was oblivious to his other condition - coronary heart disease. He underwent an operation for the heart problem in July this year.
Eyewitnesses testified in court that the driver appeared to have fainted and had his head leaning against a window as the bus approached the stop.
Li Kwok-wah, deputy chairman of the Kowloon Motor Bus Staff Union, said the union always reminded drivers not to go to work if they felt unwell.
The company provided annual health checks for all drivers who were aged more than 50, Li said. From today, the programme would also include an electrocardiography test.
A KMB spokesman said Yau, who had been a driver for 23 years, had retired in July 2012. The company required all new drivers to undergo a medical examination and they had to declare in writing if they were on medication for diabetes or hypertension, or had been diagnosed with cardiovascular diseases or suffered strokes. He said the company would make arrangements for them to attend annual medical examinations.
 


'Fainting' driver in Tuen Mun bus stop death crash walks free

Driver in bus stop death crash walks free

News

Hong Kong