Hong Kong tram driver gets 4 weeks in jail for crash that killed girl, 3
Magistrate takes mitigating factors into consideration, grants Li Yaodong release for appeal proceedings after being remanded for two weeks
A Hong Kong court has sentenced a tram driver to four weeks in prison for careless driving after his vehicle fatally hit a three-year-old girl and injured three others, with the punishment significantly reduced due to the accident being deemed “inevitable”.
Chung also said the defendant’s colleagues had petitioned for leniency, praising him as “dedicated to his work”, and noting that he had twice won a “best driver” award during his five years of service.
The accident took place outside Kennedy Town Swimming Pool on the morning of August 15, 2024. Li’s tram struck the girl, her six-year-old sister, their grandfather and the family’s helper as they were crossing Des Voeux Road West.
The girl was found unconscious under the tram and later pronounced dead in hospital.
Evidence showed that the grandfather had carried the girl with one arm and held her sister’s hand as they waited on a traffic island. Security footage revealed that they had taken a step forward despite the pedestrian signal being red.
While Li said he had stopped the vehicle once he realised the tram had struck the pedestrians, Chung found the driver had not paid enough attention to road conditions on a rainy day and did not brake in time.