During the “Golden Week” holiday, a car accident that occurred in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province has sparked continuous attention. Family members of the victims accused the driver of the crash of accelerating from a distance of 400 meters at a traffic light during a quarrel with his girlfriend in the passenger seat, resulting in the death of their son, daughter-in-law, and their less than one-year-old grandson.
Late at night on October 11th, the traffic police in Jingdezhen notified that at around 6:42 pm on October 2nd, a 20-year-old man surnamed Liao was driving a small car on Changjiang Avenue near Leighton Style Community, hitting three pedestrians crossing the road. The accident led to the immediate death of one individual named Hu, while another individual named Wang passed away after ineffective on-site rescue efforts, and a person named Hu passed away after ineffective medical treatment. The police ruled out drunk driving suspicion for Liao and he was criminally detained on October 3rd for suspected traffic accident crime.
According to Li Zhi News, Wang, a family member of the victims, stated on October 12th that the victims were her son, daughter-in-law, and their grandchild who was only 8 days away from turning one. “The driver and his girlfriend in the passenger seat were quarrelling to reconcile. They accelerated from 400 meters away at the traffic light and hit the pedestrians at a speed of 128.9 km/hour. The couple tried to push each other away to avoid the collision, instinctively holding onto the child tightly and were all hit and thrown. There were intermediaries conveying messages, with the driver’s family offering compensation, suggesting that he could take care of us in our old age after serving his prison sentence, hoping to gain forgiveness, but we did not agree.”
Wang mentioned that the accident occurred in a residential area in the city center where there is no crosswalk, and the usual passing vehicles and pedestrians navigate while observing their surroundings.
Family members mentioned that they learned from the police that Liao was not a local resident, and he wanted to reconcile with his girlfriend who was in the passenger seat at the time, but was rejected, leading to his deliberate speeding in anger.
In response to various discussions online, Mr. Liao, the father of the driver, made his first statement defending his son, stating that the accident was caused by a reason and was not as circulated online: “This car was purchased only 5 days ago and was idle for more than a hundred hours in the garage. My son had actually operated it for less than a day and a half.” He expressed his desire to personally apologize to the victim’s family, but they firmly refused to accept the apology.
The victims’ family members revealed that after the incident, Liao’s father sent a message saying he didn’t educate his son well and hoped his son would fulfill filial duties for the deceased, but there was no further communication. The victims’ family stated, “He wiped out two generations of my son and grandson, our family has no descendants, we will never forgive, and we will seek justice for the family of three for the rest of our lives.”
Currently, Liao has been approved for arrest by the prosecutor’s office for suspected crime of endangering public safety by dangerous means.