An Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in Hong Kong is in critical condition after she was rammed by a vehicle along Fortress Hill Road, northbound towards Tai Keung Street.
According to reports, the taxi driver lost control and veered into King’s Road, running over three people who were crossing the roadway. The car then hit a lamp post and came to a stop. The injured were taken to the closest hospital by paramedics and police as soon as they got on the site.
The 85-year-old cab driver and the mainland passenger, who was 43 years old, were both hurt, according to the initial police inquiry. When he was taken to Ruttonjee Hospital, the driver who had chest pains was awake.
As the passenger was being transported to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, it was claimed that he had had a foot injury. When paramedics arrived at the site, the 48-year-old Filipino woman had a head injury and was unconscious, according to the authorities.
When emergency personnel came, the 59-year-old Chinese woman who had suffered a head injury was not conscious. Although the 48-year-old female pedestrian who suffered a hand injury on the third pedestrian was still conscious.
They were all sent to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital together. Half of Hong Kong’s cab drivers were 60 years or older, and nearly 10% were 71 years or older, citing a Legislative Council study cited in The Standard in 2021. 8,680 drivers, or around 3.9 percent of all drivers, were 71 or older in 2016. Nonetheless, it now stands at 9.3 percent.
According to government statistics, there were 2,320 incidents involving taxi drivers in 2020, which is more than twice as many as accidents involving drivers under the age of 55.
“There have been one or two cases where a driver who had to use the bathroom couldn’t hold it in, or couldn’t remember the way to a destination. If we notice signs of Alzheimer’s, we won’t let them drive,” said Chow Kwok-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association. We won’t permit them to operate a vehicle if we spot Alzheimer’s symptoms.
