KMB yard shunter gets 200 hours community service
AM730 · 2 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
District Court judge Ernest Lin Kam-hung sentenced 48-year-old KMB yard shunter Sun Wai-leung to 200 hours of community service after he was convicted of careless driving over a fatal reversing incident at Kowloon Bay Bus Depot in 2023. The judge said the crash was a tragedy and accepted that, despite the grave outcome, it appeared to be a single lapse by an otherwise careful professional driver.
Key Points
- The case arose from an incident at about 4am on September 7, 2023, on the fifth floor of KMB's Kowloon Bay depot, where Sun was moving buses parked along a rooftop traffic lane
- The deceased, Lo Yuk-kuen, was preparing to collect a bus for duty and was struck and run over while walking behind the bus as Sun reversed it to another location.
- HK01 reported the victim was seen moving from the front to the rear of the bus at 4.47am, and was only found injured on the rooftop after 7am before later dying in hospital
- After trial, Sun was acquitted of dangerous driving causing death but convicted of careless driving because he had not paid sufficient attention to conditions behind the bus.
- Evidence cited in court included KMB reversing guidance requiring an open side window, horn use when necessary and very slow speed, while experts said the bus was reversing at about 15 to 16.1 km/h
- A repair company employee testified that four sensors on the right rear of the bus were not functioning and could not detect objects behind the vehicle
- Sun said in his defence that he did not know Lo, had not seen him before boarding, and did not feel that he had hit anything while reversing
- In sentencing, the judge noted Sun had more than 20 years of driving experience, no relevant driving record, had already been remanded for 11 to 19 days, and faced dismissal by KMB after the case.
Why It Matters
The ruling leaves in place a conviction for careless driving rather than the more serious dangerous driving charge, while underscoring the court's view that the fatality arose from a brief failure of attention in a depot setting rather than persistently reckless driving. For Hong Kong readers, the case also draws attention to reversing procedures, vehicle sensor reliability and the human cost that workplace driving incidents can impose on both victims' and defendants' families.