Watch A Child Run Over Three Times. Or Don't

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

This hit and run video, captured by a security camera in a market in Foshan, Guangdong Province, is causing a public outcry in China – after people did nothing for many minutes.

The van driver stops for a moment, realizing that he has just hit a toddler. Then he drives on and crushes two-year-old Yueyue again. For seven minutes, people ignore the little girl, causing here to be hit yet again by a truck. Finally, a 57 year old woman stops and helps. China Daily claimed that the woman who stopped was told by a number of shopkeepers to mind her own business. Finally, the mother arrives and takes the child away.

The little girl was declared brain dead by a hospital on Sunday afternoon and could die at any moment.

Police caught the truck driver soon after the incident and the van driver turned himself in on Sunday afternoon.

“If she is dead, I may pay only about 20,000 yuan ($3,125). But if she is injured, it may cost me hundreds of thousands yuan,” said the driver over the phone to the media, before he gave himself up to the police.


Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Wallstreet Wallstreet on Oct 19, 2011

    I have teary eyes tonight. This is beyond tragic.

  • Daveainchina Daveainchina on Oct 19, 2011

    Sadly just before this happened I was involved in a similiar accident. Luckily the driver stopped however the crowd that gathered was completely useless and no one called the police until I did myself. I have been severely injured and ended up in the hospital requiring surgery. To top it off the Police officer who arrived, after 30 minutes after the accident occured kept asking if I needed an ambulance. I can't make too many more comments as I don't know the laws here in china and I don't know how this will end up in court. I do know that the situation of how people handle emergency situations is pathetic in this country (China). This situation, in light of conversations I had prior to my accident and prior to this little girl don't surprise me at all. It's still sad and pathetic though.

  • VA Terrapin VA Terrapin on Oct 20, 2011

    I knew when this article came out that racist responses would follow. That some would commit the logical fallacy of applying one or two anecdotes to an entire country of over 1.3 billion people. That some would exploit this article so that they can feel smug in their feelings of superiority over the Chinese people and culture. Articles like this do nothing good on TTAC other than to increase revenue by increasing clicks. This article obviously increases trolling and flaming, and it shifts attention away from cars and the car industry. It would be a shame to see TTAC ruin its own reputation for the sake of a few more clicks.

  • Daveainchina Daveainchina on Oct 20, 2011

    @VA Terrapin Ok people like you need to get off your high horse, I see very little here that has to do with racism and I see a whole lot that refers to the system that promotes this type of thinking. Read up.. I just had damn near the same friggin thing happen to me here, yes I'm not as seriously injured, but I was in the hospital for a relatively extended time and have had surgery and am the lucky new owner of several new hunks of metal in me. In no small thanks to the people of China. In fact I just got out of the hospital 1 week ago and am in constant and continuous pain from my incident. The crowd gave no help, the crowd stood around and thought it was a comical social event. Even worse than the child in some ways. This type of behavior is COMMON in Communist China, in no way does it reflect the behavior of Chinese who don't live on the mainland. It's not racism, it's fact for Chinese mainland. In fact the incident has sparked such outrage that many people within China are questioning the morality of the country as a whole. This has just increased that dialogue. So you oversensitive boob are the one who is really bringing race into this discussion. I currently live in China and don't think badly of the people, but the system. Yeah, I don't like it. Maybe you should get out travel and stop trying to think of yourself as higher than the others here who aren't afraid to express real opinions instead of Politically sanitized BS that so much of our country thinks of as real opinions. (it's not, it's just people being scared to speak how they truly feel for fear of being ostracized by their neighbors/job/country etc, namely self-righteous people like you) @everyone else. I apologize for my outburst here, I just find people like this myopic nincompoop set me off. Especially when I personally just experienced nearly the exact same thing in Shanghai. And yes, I was the victim.

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