《TAIPEI TIMES》 Collision kills policemen, trucker

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

Two highway police officers and a truck driver were killed in a rear-end collision on the Tainan stretch of the Sun Yat-sen Freeway （Freeway No. 1） early yesterday morning, the Highway Police Bureau said.

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The accident happened at about 4:45am at the 308.1km post in the southbound lane, the bureau said.

Officers Kuo Cheng-hsiung （郭振雄） and Yeh Chia-hao （葉家豪） had stopped a large truck and were issuing a ticket to the driver, surnamed Hsiao （蕭）, on the shoulder of the road, the bureau said in a report.

The three were standing between the police car and the truck, when another truck driven by a man, surnamed Lu （陸）, hit the truck from behind, the bureau said.

Kuo was knocked down a slope on the side of the freeway, while Yeh and Hsiao were crushed under the tires of Hsiao’s truck, it said.

All three were dead before medical help arrived, the bureau added.

Lu, who was slightly injured in the collision, told prosecutors that he was sleepy and only stepped on the brake after hearing the collision.

Lu was later released on NT$100,000 bail, the bureau said.

Premier William Lai （賴清德） met with the officers’ family members, and asked the National Police Agency to arrange compensation and assist them in handling the funerals.

Agency Director-General Chen Chia-ching （陳家欽） said Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong （葉俊榮） is scheduled to visit the officers’ families today.

The agency has recently amended the Enforcement Rules of the Police Personnel Management Act （警察人員人事條例施行細則） to change the definition of “death in the line of duty” to include officers who are killed while handling accidents or calls that put their lives in danger, Chen said.

The amendment was open for public review until yesterday, Chen said, adding that it would be applied to Kuo and Yeh’s deaths after it takes effect.

The Ministry of the Interior said it was pushing to raise highway police officers’ monthly allowance by NT$5,061 on top of their current NT$8,435, but the proposal must still be approved by the Executive Yuan.

Four highway police officers have been killed in the line of duty and 33 injured over the past eight years, bureau statistics show.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES