TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An elderly man and a female foreign caregiver were hit by a truck driven by an octogenarian as the domestic worker pushed her patient in a wheelchair down a small road in western Taiwan.
On April 3, a 32-year-old Filipino caregiver was pushing an 88-year-old man on the side of a narrow road with no sidewalks in Shuizui Village in Yunlin County's Gukeng Township, when a small blue delivery truck driven by an 82-year-old man struck them from behind, reported TVBS. The elderly man was sent flying out of his wheelchair, while the truck's right front and rear tires ran over the caregiver.
As can be seen in dashcam video of the incident, instead of coming to a complete stop, the driver continued to drive his truck further down the road before finally coming to a stop several meters later. The elderly man reportedly suffered a head injury, while the caregiver had a broken arm.
However, both were conscious when paramedics arrived at the scene, and they were rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency medical treatment.
According to a preliminary police investigation, when the caregiver spotted a large ditch in the shoulder of the road, she had no choice but to push the wheelchair onto the right lane of the street. As the elderly truck driver was rounding a bend in the road, he did not notice the caregiver and patient until it was too late to react.
Neighboring residents told the news agency that the ditch should be covered and that the turn is prone to accidents. Police said that despite his advanced age, the driver of the truck still had a valid license and no alcohol was detected in his system.
Police suspect that the driver failed to carefully observe the situation in front of him. Whether the pedestrians were also partially responsible for the accident still remains to be investigated by police.
