Driver indicted over death of passenger left on highway

Taipei, Feb. 13 (CNA) The New Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Friday indicted a taxi driver on charges of abandonment resulting in death after he left a passenger on Provincial Highway No. 64, where the man was later struck and killed.

According to the indictment, the 46-year-old taxi driver, surnamed Lin (林), accepted a ride request via the Bolt platform and picked up a 25-year-old passenger, surnamed Wen (溫), in Taipei's Wenshan District at 2:07 a.m. on Jan. 25, and headed toward Banqiao District, New Taipei.

As the vehicle passed a highway off-ramp in New Taipei's Zhonghe District, Wen "suddenly lay down on the backseat," prosecutors said.

Although the indictment did not elaborate the reason Wen collapsed in the back of the taxi, local media reported he was inebriated.

Prosecutors said that the driver pulled over and stopped between the traffic lane he was driving on and a soundproof wall, opened the rear door, and told Wen to get out, "despite knowing Wen was incapable of protecting himself" and that stopping on the highway was strictly prohibited.

After seeing Wen collapse onto the road after exiting the car, Lin drove away, prosecutors added.

While prostate in the inner lane of the highway, Wen was run over by four vehicles between 2:22 a.m. and 2:31 a.m., suffering catastrophic head injuries and massive hemorrhaging that led to his death, the indictment said.

The district prosecutors office summoned Lin three times and determined there was probable cause to suspect abandonment resulting in death under Article 294 of the Criminal Code. Lin was released on NT$200,000 (US$6,359) bail, along with travel restrictions and electronic monitoring imposed.

The case will be tried under the Citizen Judges Act, which requires ordinary citizens to sit with professional judges in criminal trials to deliver verdicts.

Under the Act, cases involving prison sentences of 10 years or more, or intentional crimes causing death, are tried by a panel of three career judges and six citizen judges.

Separately, the four drivers suspected of hitting Wen on the highway are being investigated on suspicion of negligent homicide.