Young man who crashed Mercedes at 253 km/h, injuring friend, avoids jail
A young man who crashed his Mercedes at speeds of more than 250 km/h into the front yard of a home in a tony Vancouver neighbourhood has avoided jail time.
Yue Hui Wang, who was 18 at the time of the collision and is now 21, on Thursday received a suspended sentence with two years of probation and a threeyear driving ban. In November he had pleaded guilty to one count of criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
Before the April 2015 accident, Wang had offered to drive a teenage friend he’d been hanging out with in Richmond back to the teen’s home. The parents of the teen wanted him home quickly.
Driving the high-performance 2015 Mercedes C63 Coupe that had recently been purchased for him by his mother, Wang crossed one of the bridges into Vancouver at speeds his friend later estimated to be at between 160 and 180 km/h.
“They turned west onto Southwest Marine Drive in Vancouver, and that is the last thing that (the friend) remembers before waking up in the totalled Mercedes, enmeshed in the trees in front of 2206 Marine Drive,” according to a statement of facts filed in court.
The caretaker of the property was awoken by his children, who had heard a loud bang. He went to the window and listened but didn’t hear anything and went back to bed but got up later and went back to the window, hearing a very quiet voice saying, “Help.”
Shortly thereafter police, firefighters and paramedics arrived and the two young men had to be extracted from the Mercedes and taken to Vancouver General Hospital. Wang had initially been knocked out by the collision, while his friend suffered a number of injuries requiring 17 days of hospitalization.
Police later obtained a warrant and seized the vehicle’s airbag “control module” which indicated that the Mercedes had been moving at 253 km/h in the seconds before the collision.
Crown counsel Mark Myhre argued that a 90-day jail term was needed for denunciation and deterrence of the crime, while defence lawyer Michael Klein called for a suspended sentence, saying that the crime was a “one-off” incident for his client, who was otherwise a law-abiding person.
In imposing sentence, Provincial Court Judge David St. Pierre noted that it was fortunate that neither of the young men were killed and said that people who are inexperienced drivers and young shouldn’t get a “pass.” He added that Wang had shown a reckless disregard for the safety of others.
“Having said all that, what’s the appropriate sentence for someone like this? That’s the hardest thing a judge has to decide.”
St. Pierre said that the crime had taken up a “very small fraction” of Wang ’s life and the rest of the time he probably was taking care of the people around him and acting appropriately and living the life of a decent citizen.
“He’s not a bad actor. In the colloquial sense, he’s committed a bad act.”
The judge said a criminal conviction provided significant denunciation and noted the potential immigration consequences for Wang, a Chinese citizen with permanent residency status in Canada who faces possible deportation as a result of the conviction.
Wang was charged on March 9, 2016, and arrested nearly two weeks later after returning to Canada to be sworn in as a citizen.
The probation conditions for Wang include that he complete 200 hours of community work service.
Wang, who was wearing a suit and tie, had earlier apologized to the judge for his actions and promised not to commit any further crimes.
He’s not a bad actor. In the colloquial sense, he’s committed a bad act.
DAVID ST. PIERRE, Provincial Court judge