Story By: John Feng, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
Video Credit: AsiaWire
This is the moment a drink-driver loses control of his car and crashes 65 feet off a motorway.
Rescuers found the driver surnamed Chen, 36, alive in the mangled SUV, but he later died of his injuries.
The crash happened after Chen had sent his girlfriend to work in the morning and lost control of the car while returning home via Provincial Highway 65 in New Taipei City in North Taiwan.
Pictures Credit: AsiaWire
CCTV footage shows Chen’s car speeding between two vehicles before veering out of control during a left bend.
The car slams into crash barriers and is launched over the edge of the viaduct, with a second angle showing the white car plunging a height of six storeys onto the grass of Xinzhuang Riverside Park.
The New Taipei City Fire Department said they freed a still breathing Chen from the driver’s seat after having prised open his badly misshapen car.
However, he lost vital signs on the way to hospital and he was declared dead shortly after.
New Taipei police said there were no skid marks where Chen crashed off the motorway, suggesting the accident was caused by the drink-driver’s speeding, and his eventual loss of control during the bend.
Chen’s dashcam was reportedly too damaged to view and police confirmed drink-driving through a toxicology report.
The victim’s girlfriend, surnamed Lin, revealed to police that they had been out drinking the night before.
However, she claims not to have smelt any alcohol or noticed anything out of sorts with Chen as he drove her to work the morning of the accident.
The incident is still being investigated.
Taiwan’s legislature is in the process of amending laws which will raise drink-driving fines from 90,000 TWD (2,210 GBP) to 500,000 TWD (12,285 GBP).
Repeated offenders will be fined up to 1 million TWD (24,570 GBP) and permanently lose their driving licence.
This comes in response to alarming figures released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Transportation and Communications, showing drink-driving related accidents to have killed 2,723 people in 2017 and 2,877 in 2016.
