The woman who was behind the wheel in a West Vancouver crash that left two people dead will not be criminally charged.
Hong Xu was charged with one count of driving a motor vehicle without due care and attention in connection with the Saturday, Aug. 20, 2022, crash on Keith Road near Keith Place. A wedding reception was taking place at the time and a large crowd had gathered.
Xu reportedly mistook the gas pedal for the brake, smashing through a fence and a gate, killing two women and injuring nine others, including herself.
One of the victims in the crash was 67-year-old Annie Kong.
A hearing North Vancouver Provincial Court on Monday heard nine victim impact statements.
Among those who spoke was the bride, who said the tragedy ultimately ended her marriage and her dreams.
Xu pleaded guilty to one count of driving without due care and attention under the Motor Vehicle Act. Crown counsel and defence have jointly requested a $2,000 fine and a five-year driving prohibition.
For the Kong family, that is not close to enough.
“When I first heard it, I told my children, when we first understood the implications of those charges, is that I told them, your mother has been killed a second time. Legally killed the second time,” Liong Kong, Annie’s husband said outside the court.
“One of the reasons why we know that we will not be getting any justice today. But we have to turn up because my wife could not turn up.”
Kong’s daughter, Joanna Moy, said she is outraged by what has happened following her mother’s death.
“I feel like the legal system has completely let us down,” she said.
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“It talked a lot about how the outcomes don’t factor into the charge. Then who is then ultimately accountable for my mother’s death? And, you know, so many other injuries and the (other) person’s death, if it was just a simple slip of the foot onto the gas instead of a brake. How is that not deemed careless? How is that not quantified as a careless act?”
Annie’s son, Nigel Kong, said he hoped Xu heard in court the pain of the families affected by this tragedy.
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“There’s just so much suffering that we’ve had,” Nigel said.
“There’s so much chaos and destruction that’s resulted as a result of this. The weight and the burden that we carry as families is immense. It lasts multiple lifetimes. I hope she hears that. I’m not sure she does, but I hope she hears that.”
Annie’s family says that because Xu was not criminally charged, they are not able to sue her for wrongful death under ICBC’s no-fault insurance system.
“It’s been a very tough, hard journey made worse by the no-fault legislation,” Moy said outside the courthouse on Monday morning.
“Given the fact that, you know… our rights and recourse to anything outside of the charge at hand has been taken away from us. So it’s been very, very difficult to navigate.”
Moy said they came to court on Monday to tell their mother’s story.
“We want to show everyone how the system has let us down. The legislations have let us down. And that, honestly, that system protects the driver and their car more than the victim and their families. And it’s honestly quite outrageous. And it’s been very difficult for our family for the past two years.”
Moy said they are hoping the sentencing can help them turn the page on this emotional and difficult chapter in their lives.
“This isn’t necessarily closure because the closure has been taken away from us,” she added. “But it is an ability to tell our mom’s story.”
Xu’s lawyer, Ian Donaldson, told Global News outside the courthouse that his client was charged under Section 144 of the Motor Vehicle Act.
“In the charging decision is the degree of moral blameworthiness,” he said. “And here it was pure accident.”
“We charge criminally where there’s a degree of moral fault or blameworthiness and that didn’t exist here,” Donaldson added. “This is pure accident. Pure accident.”
He said that if this had been a case of, for example, dangerous driving causing death under the criminal code, Xu would be jailed.
Through an interpreter in court on Monday, she apologized to the victims.
“She has said that she’s sorry since the day it happened,” Donaldson said.
“She said it directly. She said it in a statement to ICBC. She said it to me. I’ve said it to the court. She said it.”
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