Driver charged with negligent homicide in the death of an 11-year-old cyclist

A driver was arrested for negligent homicide after he ran over an 11-year-old boy who fell on his path on an unfinished highway in Baoding, Hebei Province.

The incident occurred on August 11, when the youngster was riding on a two-way highway in Rongcheng County with his father and a group of bikers.

The boy fell from his bike and was run over by the motorist, surnamed Jiang, who was driving in the opposite lane. Surveillance footage showed Jiang was driving at a speed of 50 kilometers per hour.

Police detained Jiang the same afternoon. On August 25, the Rongcheng County Procuratorate approved his detention for negligent homicide, Jiang's lawyer Zhou Zhaocheng told Henan-based Dahe Daily on Wednesday.

Villagers claimed that the accident occurred on a flood control embankment that was not yet open to traffic. The construction company had put up multiple road signs forbidding non-construction workers and vehicles from using the road. However, due to its convenience, people, including cyclists, continued to use this portion of the road.

The Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported that because the road was still under construction and not yet open to traffic, police treated the accident as a crime.

Jiang, according to his lawyer, believes he was involved in a traffic accident rather than a crime as charged. He claimed to have been driving normally and had not exceeded the speed limit.

Jiang argued that he could not have foreseen the child biking on the opposite lane and that he did not flee the scene but instead called the police, and tried to save the child.

Zhou also holds the view that treating the case as a traffic accident, rather than a criminal offense, would be appropriate. He argued that the road, while officially not opened, was functional with traffic signs in place and accessible to vehicles.

Additionally, he argued that the construction company should bear some responsibility for not adequately enforcing the road closure.

The lawyer also questioned the father for allowing his underage son to bike on the road, noting that Chinese law prohibits children under 12 from riding on public roads.