A terrifying road rage incident recently occurred in Beitun District, Taichung City, Taiwan. A 68-year-old barbecue restaurant owner surnamed Li got out of his car with a knife to confront another driver, but was instead knocked down by a 35-year-old man surnamed Yeh. After five days of emergency medical treatment, Li was pronounced dead on the 11th. The incident caused a stir in society. Yeh, who had previously remained silent, spoke publicly about the incident for the first time on Wednesday (12th), stating that he only fought back because his life was threatened, and he hoped not to cause further public harm to the deceased's family.
Reviewing the entire incident, which occurred at about 9:28 am on the 6th, Mr. Li and Mr. Yeh got into a dispute due to issues such as overtaking and tailgating. When passing the intersection of Section 2, Zhongqing Road and Tongrong Road, Mr. Li lost his temper, got out with a folding knife to confront and repeatedly knocked on Yeh's car window and pulled at him. During the process, Yeh's arm was cut, after which Yeh fought back, knocking Li to the ground and beating him fiercely. Li lost consciousness at the scene, with blood coming from his ear and frothing at the mouth.
Both were rushed to hospital for treatment. Yeh's arm was slashed and required more than 20 stitches, while Li was initially out of critical condition after emergency treatment, but was ultimately pronounced dead on the 11th. At first, both parties filed assault charges against each other, and Yeh was released on bail of NT$50,000 (about RM6,400). Now that the situation has escalated, prosecutors continue to investigate to determine whether there is a causal relationship between Yeh's actions and Li's death.
The family accused Yeh of intentionally tailgating, which prompted the father to get out and confront him, and considered Yeh's retaliation excessively violent. They have filed a murder charge through a lawyer. According to SET News, Yeh is a local from Beitun District in Taichung and has no criminal record. He said frankly, "If my life wasn't threatened, who would be willing to fight back?" He also stated that even if he was in the right, any related discussion would hurt the deceased’s family, so he was unwilling to talk further.