A speeding car ran over a pedestrian in Hangzhou recently, creating a public outcry over luxury car owners getting away with murder and raising concern over social fairness, says an article in Beijing News. Excerpts:

More than 5,000 car drivers have been fined for speeding in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, in the past 16 months. Speeding and rash driving have caused many accidents and several deaths. The latest victim of such an accident was a pedestrian, who was knocked down and killed by a luxury car, driven by a member of a wealthy family. The young man's death and the indifference shown by the rich driver at the loss of a life have created a public outcry.

The driver and his friends got off the car after the accident. But instead of helping the dying man to reach a hospital, they kept joking among themselves as if nothing had happened. A crowd that had gathered was appalled by the reaction of the rich brats, who thought their wealthy parents could handle anything with money.

What the public is worried the most about is how could the rich brats react that way after knocking down and killing a fellow human being. In recent years, rich drivers racing through streets with no regard for pedestrians has become a common sight in some places in China. Some drivers are known to race around Beijing's Second Ring Road in just 13 minutes. Young drivers race with one other on Shanghai roads, too.

The fact that some rich people can pay their way out of any situation - even after violating the law - shows how dangerous illegal practices have become. That has touched the most sensitive nerve of the public. We should review the education rich people's kids get and find out what makes some people so indifferent to the loss of lives they are in more than one way to blame for.

(China Daily May 15, 2009)