Slammed with a US $25 million fine, a 34-year-old Chinese truck driver might be forced to pay for generations to come after a bridge collapsed under his overloaded truck and authorities blamed him for the accident.
On July 19 2011, the driver, known only as Mr. Zhang, drove an overloaded truck (110 tonnes) filled with sand on to a concrete bridge near Beijing, causing it to collapse. Zhang's fine is equivalent to the cost of the damaged bridge.Authorities found Zhang solely responsible for the traffic accident, while Mr. Zhang claims he was merely carrying out the instructions of the delivery company. It is unclear how, if at all, Zhang intends to pay the financial penalty. According to Chinese media, the average monthly salary of a Beijing truck driver is around $70. At that rate, Zhang will have to pay the fine over a period of 30,000 years before it is all paid out.