Sun Haojie, the 32-year-old driver who killed a police officer when making an illegal turn at the junction of Wuzhong and Hongmei roads in Shanghai Wednesday, said he regrets what he did.
The incident has drawn a lot of attention from the public. Most of the comments are unsympathetic toward the driver, and some people have taken the opportunity to reflect on their own habit of breaking traffic laws.
“I really didn’t mean to hurt him,” said Sun, who has been detained on suspicion of intentional injury.
Sun accelerated into the crossroads despite a warning from Mao Shengquan, the police officer who grabbed onto his car door, and knocked Mao down.
By the time he realized that something had gone wrong — when he saw a group of people behind him in his rearview mirror — Mao was already lying on the ground covered in blood.
Mao was also 32. His wife is due to give birth to their child next month.
“I never thought it would end up like this. I was just angry at him,” Sun told police, his head bowed. “Previously officers at this crossroads had let me make the turn, so I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t let me go,” Sun said, adding that he had an urgent appointment with friends at that time.
Liu Zhengjin, a witness with 20 years’ driving experience, said he estimated that Sun was driving about 100 kilometers per hour when Mao grabbed onto his car door and tried to stop him.
The junction is one of the busiest on Wuzhong Road, especially during rush hour periods.
“Were it not for the police officers who are working there day and night, traffic along the road would be paralyzed,” said Ye Ting, Mao’s colleague in Minhang District.
Chen Long, a 27-year-old man who has been driving for seven years, said he was once punished by a police officer for behaving in a way similar to Sun.
“Yes, I sometimes break the rules at the crossroads when I’m in a hurry and take chances with law enforcement, but I would never disobey a police officer,” he said.
Hua Jun, a 27-year-old with two years’ driving experience, said he thought Sun made a great mistake in not listening to the police officer.
“Many of my driving friends would agree that even a good-tempered man can become ill-tempered when sitting behind the wheel, but you just can’t direct your anger at the police,” he said.
Having been punished for making an illegal turn at a crossroads himself, Hua said usually drivers take chances when they’re hurrying somewhere.
“Sometimes even if you break the rules, you can get away with it because the police officers are simply too busy to punish everyone,” Hua said.
Liu Xianquan, a criminal law professor at East China University of Political Science and Law, said Sun might be charged with endangering public safety in dangerous ways or murder, which carry sentences of 10 years or even death.
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