Saigon taxi driver jailed for accident injuring American tourists

Quach Huu Toan, 35, who works for Vietnam’s biggest taxi company Vinasun, was found guilty of violating traffic regulations.

According to the indictment, Toan was driving in the central District 1, HCMC when he hit a group of people, three Americans and one Vietnamese, who were using the pedestrian crossing. The accident took place on April 2 last year at the intersection on Dong Khoi and Ton Duc Thang streets.

The American tourists sustained severe injuries while the Vietnamese man suffered a spinal fracture.

Toan fled after the accident and turned himself in to the police in November. He paid the Vietnamese victim VND12 million ($514).

The American tourists returned home after recovering from their injuries. The court has requested the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City to contact the victims for receiving compensation, but has not received a response.

Road crashes are a leading cause of deaths in Vietnam, with one person dying almost every hour. A total of more than 18,720 accidents occurred in 2018, killing 8,244 people and injuring nearly 14,800, according to the National Traffic Safety Committee.