It happened 5 days ago, that an American citizen was hit and killed by a minor celebrity driving a black Mercedes Benz.
Every report reports the name 葛 (Ge) as the victim, and nothing else but,
He was 50 years-old, and American.
Does anyone know him? What is his name?
Taiwan’s media reported extensively for one day,
That a scion of a telecommunications company executive sped,
Through a red-light, and killed,
Yi ge ren.
What’s his name?
The victim, not the driver.
According to one of the measly reports, it happens once per year,
At this intersection.
It’s a Chinese family name, so I guess a huaqiao? Some news source would have a suitably mangled version of their name in the Roman alphabet if not, I guess.
I will soon be 50 but I am very careful at every corner.
Ignoring the small blue trucks for the moment, but is it just me, or does it seem that more often than not it’s the people with Benz’s and Beamers that are doing a disproportionate amount of the speeding- you know, that crazy kind of speed in small alleys where death or injury would definitely occur if someone were hit?
According to the original report the “American” was crossing on a red light, the Benz wasn’t speeding, simply didn’t see the guy. Maybe throttle back on the vitriol people.
even so, going through a red light or not its unlikely he was using any observation skills if he mowed someone down at speed. i don’t think the difference of red or green light changes the safety level that much anyway. just as likely to get run over like a dog on a green light imo.
i also think there is some truth to drivers of flash cars here driving like total cunts. i’ve seen one bmw driver speeding down the road while a granny that must of been over 90 years old hobbled across the street. he didn’t slow down at all, just swerved around her.
Oh no, I absolutely agree. The more expensive the car the more cuntish the driver. Just that in this case maybe it really was a case of a drunk person wandering into the wrong place. I lost a mate years ago crossing Hoping E. Rd from 45 to Fubar in a drunken state.
My beef is the way the media gives just a last name and no other info on the (foreign) victim, while completely focussing on the driver’s celebrity, family wealth, and the type of car.
If the driver were a foreigner, and the pedestrian Taiwanese, the reporting would have been very different. The full name of the victim would be given, along with information about his family and their terrible loss, etc. The story would be covered in-depth for several days or weeks.
The only additional information I’ve seen in the reports is that the guy who got run over was a businessman and has family in Taiwan.
Of course there’s plenty of information about the driver’s rich family, the model of Benz he was driving, and his performance in a singing competition years ago. He’s currently working as an apprentice noodle maker.
From the extent of damage to the front end of the Benz, the police think he was probably speeding, but it may be impossible to prove definitively. He’s probably looking at a manslaughter suit against him.
I don’t think the media is supposed to provide detailed information of either the victim nor the perpetrator. I don’t think the victim’s family would want that at all.
The Porsche picture was dragged up by the reporter from an article about a similar incident about a year ago at the same intersection.
Reporters in Taiwan seem to be obsessed about higher-end cars. Comments by readers on various articles covering this topic have pointed out that if the car were a Toyota, the model and brand would not have been mentioned at all.
One commenter suggested that Taiwan reporters tendency to focus on traffic accidents involving Mercs, Beemers, and Porsches was an attempt to create class-division.
I wonder what side of the strait that commenter lives on.
