Delivery driver jailed over ‘accident that changed everybody’s life’

A delivery driver who killed a Brisbane mother when he ran a red light has made a tearful plea to a court saying he wishes he could turn back time.

A delivery driver who killed a Brisbane mother when he ran a red light has made a tearful plea to a court saying he wishes he could turn back time.

Tsung-Lin Tsai, 47, had finished his 12-hour shift and was two minutes from his home when he drove through the traffic light about 10.25am on March 18 last year.

At the same time Drewvale mother Sui Ching Yip, 49, had just finished her grocery shopping and was walking across the busy intersection of Beaudesert and Nottingham roads at Calamvale.

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She was hit by Tsai’s white Isuzu truck at almost 80km/hr and thrown 10 metres, dying on the road and leaving behind a young son and husband.

Mrs Yip’s husband sat in Brisbane District Court this morning as Tsai was sentenced for the accident that had “changed everybody’s life”.

The court heard Tsai, who pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle, was not speeding but had a “significant period of a loss of concentration” and missed several cues.

The traffic light had been red for 14 seconds and he had driven passed a bank of five cars which had stopped in another lane for the light and pedestrians to cross.

In the wake of the accident Tsai, a devout Buddhist, locked himself in his room for three weeks and has not got behind the wheel of a truck since.

Barrister Rob Carroll said the father of two had suffered weekly flashbacks, PTSD and has not got behind the wheel of a truck since.

Through a Taiwanese translator, Tsai read a tearful letter asking the court to give him a chance for his family’s sake and describing how all he can do now is “hope time could go backwards”.

Judge Paul Smith said Tsai had made significant contributions to the community through his charity work and donations.

“That’s what makes these difficult sentences because otherwise it seems to me you’re a decent person,” Judge Smith said.

Despite his co-operation with police and clear remorse, Judge Smith said actual custody was called for and sentenced Tsai to serve three months of a two-year jail sentence behind bars.

“Any sentence I impose on you today won’t bring the victim back to life, and it won’t entirely stop your suffering because you’ll think about this every day,” Judge Smith said.

He was also disqualified from driving for three years.