Shanghai traffic police 'deepen' major accident investigation
Five company leaders have been detained and four others put on bail for alleged criminal liability over major traffic accidents so far this year, Shanghai traffic police said on Friday.
This is the result of “deepened” investigation into 80 major traffic accidents that took place in Shanghai, police said.
As a result, 48 company leaders have been fined and 25 companies suspended until all safety management requirements have been fulfilled.
Three people were killed in a rear-end collision between two container trucks in Baoshan District on May 3. Three company leaders have been detained and could face criminal charges.
At the beginning of last year, Shanghai traffic police established an interdisciplinary team of experts specializing in vehicle safety, road infrastructure, company management, criminal investigation and forensic examination. The aim is to investigate traffic accidents with at least two deaths, and those involving at least one death whose major responsibility is assigned to a heavy truck or a tour bus.
Similar efforts have been carried out by traffic police in all districts.
The purpose is to thoroughly investigate the safety management mechanism of a company whose vehicles are involved in such accidents, and to track evidence of its ignorance of legal duties, police said.
The number of traffic accidents and people killed in those accidents in Shanghai in the first eight months of this year were down 9 and 12 percent from the same period last year, according to police.
