Driver in Fatal Bus Crash May Have Been Looking at Phone
Mirror Media alleges that the driver of a bus that crashed in Kaohsiung last week, killing six and injuring 11 may have been looking at, or looking for his phone in the moments before the accident.
In an article published today, Mirror quotes an anonymous, informed source who claims to have seen footage recorded by the vehicle’s internal video monitors that shows the bus driver looking and reaching down to his right. The driver’s head was bowed down, the source said.
According to the article, a moment before the crash, and just meters behind a car slowing down ahead of the bus, the driver looks up with a shocked expression on his face, turns the steering wheel to the left, and sends the bus careening out of control into the central traffic divider.
The bus driver was also not wearing a seat belt, and was thrown out of the bus in the crash, the source claims.
When rescue workers turned up at the scene of the accident, the driver was outside the bus, and rescuers assumed he had disembarked on his own.
The driver, Mr Wu, 38, told investigators that he had been traveling within the speed limit when a car suddenly appeared ahead without tail lights or brake lights. Video footage already released refutes the driver’s story, and recording devices show that the bus had been traveling up to 120kph on the freeway.
Prosecutors Mum on Details
United Daily News called the Qaotun District Prosecutors office for an interview. The spokesperson accepted the interview and told them he appreciated the media’s interest in the case. However, he refused to confirm or deny the allegations and said the case was still under investigation. He did not rule out the possibility that the driver will be called in again to clarify certain details of the case. The driver is currently released on a NT$200,000 bail.
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