Sneezing student's deadly crash case opens

• Source: Global Times
• [10:21 June 13 2010]
• Comments

Bereaved family members of the victims shed tears at the opening of the trial Saturday. Photo: Courtesy of Yan Jianqi

By Zhang Cao

A driver who killed four workers and injured six others when her vehicle ploughed into their roadworks in February has claimed that the tragedy would not have happened if proper warning signs had been placed ahead of the site.

Pan Jie, a 25-year-old graduate student, is currently being tried in Pudong New Area People's Court for causing the accident. The trial opened Saturday.

Around 2 pm on February 10, Pan's car crashed into a group of workers who were installing a soundproof barrier on the Middle Ring Road. Four workers died in the collision and six were injured.

Pan's lawyer, Qin Jianming, denied the charge of negligence, instead claiming that a lack of proper safety measures by the construction company involved was the principal cause of the accident.

"There was a car in front of me. And then I sneezed. Then the car ahead disappeared, and the road workers were right in front of me," Pan told the court. "If there had been signs warning of the roadworks, I would definitely have reduced my speed earlier."

According to surveillance footage of the accident shown in court, the car ahead of Pan suddenly changed lanes. Nine seconds later, Pan's car crashed into a minibus owned by the construction company, which was stopped at the site, then ricocheted into a group of workers nearby.

The prosecution said that Pan's car was traveling at around 60 kilometers per hour at the time of the collision. While they acknowledged that there were no signs warning of the roadworks on approach to the site, except for some reflective cones, prosecutors insisted that the construction company, Shanghai Shijie Machinery Manufacturing Company, only bore secondary responsibility for the accident.

One of the injured workers told the court that they had put reflective cones 30 to 40 meters ahead of the site.

Qin said that, according to road traffic rules, reflective cones warning of a work site should be placed at least 100 meters ahead of it.

He added that it was impossible for the car to stop within nine seconds. "There were no warning signs, and the reflective cones were too close to the site," he said. "Also, the workers weren't wearing reflective vests or safety helmets."

Qin also claimed that the construction company was not licensed to perform highway maintenance, making the site illegal. "The company didn't pay any attention to safety concerns," he said.

The prosecution said that the license to carry out work was not the issue, and that Pan's negligence was the main cause of the accident.

They also presented a highway construction license for the company, issued by the Pudong New Area Public Security Bureau on the day of the accident.

Qin said the license was questionable, as it was issued on the same day.

Shanghai Shijie Machinery Manufacturing Company had no representative in court, and could not be reached by the Global Times Saturday.

According to Chinese law, the person found to be principally responsible for a traffic accident that kills more than two people should be sentenced to prison for three to seven years.

The trial continues.