No charges for owner of mattress involved in fatal motorcycle accident

Taipei, Jan. 15 (CNA) Changhua prosecutors on Wednesday said they had declined to press charges against the owner of a mattress that blew into a road during a typhoon and was struck by a speeding motorcyclist, causing the man's death.

In a statement issued after completing its investigation of the case, the Changhua District Prosecutors Office said that in April or May 2023, a woman, surnamed Huang (黃), dumped an old mattress in a vacant area in front of a factory on Yanhai Road in Changhua's Xianxi Township.

On Oct. 5 of that year, as Typhoon Koinu was hitting Taiwan, the mattress was blown into the road at around 4 a.m.

Not long after, at 5:38 a.m., a 27-year-old man surnamed Hsu (許) approached the area on a motorcycle with a friend riding on the back of the bike.

Failing to notice the obstacle in time, Hsu crashed into the mattress and was thrown to the ground, causing severe injuries that he died of the next day.

A probe of the crash by the local traffic accident investigation committee found that Hsu and Huang both bore responsibility for the accident, prosecutors said.

According to the committee, Hsu did not have a driver's license, was driving over the speed limit, and was not paying attention to road conditions, making him unable to avoid the mattress in time.

Huang, meanwhile, had not properly disposed of the mattress, thus allowing it to be blown into the road and become a hazard for drivers, the committee said.

Following their own investigation, prosecutors said Wednesday that the mattress in its original location did not pose any danger to traffic.

During the typhoon, it blew onto one side of Yanhai Road, covering about one-third of the right lane and a small portion of the left lane, prosecutors said.

Based on surveillance camera footage, a black sedan that passed the area in the left lane was still able to dodge the mattress, after slowing down slightly.

Hsu, however, sped through the area in the right lane at a speed of 80-90 kilometers per hour, despite warnings from the local government to drive slowly during the typhoon and only go out if absolutely necessary, prosecutors said.

As a result, Hsu only hit the brakes two to three meters in front of the mattress, and ended up striking it head-on, prosecutors said.

Because Hsu placed himself in situation involving "highly uncontrollable risks," there is insufficient evidence to indict Huang for negligent homicide, the prosecutor's office said, adding that it had therefore decided not to press charges.

Hsu's mother said Wednesday that she "cannot accept" the office's decision and planned to file an appeal.