A 29-year-old motorcyclist were killed together along with his wife when his vehicle crashed with two trucks in quick succession on Ting Kau Bridge Friday morning.

As the driver had a provisional licence, there is suspicion that his wife was illegally riding pillion on his bike at the time of the accident and had broken other traffic regulations.

The accident happened around 9:20 am when the two-wheeler was running along a slip road of Ting Kau Bridge towards Kowloon.

When approaching Ting Kau Bridge along the slow lane, the motorcycle first rammed into a medium goods vehicle in the middle lane and then a light goods vehicle in the fast lane.

The motorcycle driver and his wife, also 29, were knocked off the vehicle. Police arriving at the scene found them lying on the ground a few meters from the damaged motorcycle, seriously injured. They were later certified dead on the spot.

Gloves and shoes belonging to the couple as well as broken-off parts of the motorcycle were strewn all over the place.

The two goods vehicles involved were only slightly damaged. The right rear mirror of one of them had fallen off.

Police believed the accident occurred when the motorcycle was cutting into the fast lane from the slow lane. There's no evidence that any of the drivers involved had been speeding or drink-driving, and the scene of accident was not a traffic black spot, the police pointed out.

The wind speed on the bridge at that time was not high, but the police said they would double-check with the Hong Kong Observatory.

The police covered the bodies with a tent, questioned the truck drivers and checked underneath the vehicles. During that time the Kowloon-bound middle and fast lanes were sealed off, causing long traffic snarls of up to 2.7 kilometers long.

The police later towed away the vehicles involved in the crash for forensic inspection.

According to traffic law, new licence holders for motorcycles are given a provisional licence for the first year. During that time, they are not allowed to carry a passenger on their motorcycle. They are also not allowed to travel along the fast lane of a three-lane highway or drive faster than 70 kilometers per hour.

China Daily

(HK Edition 10/30/2010 page1)