Truck owner commits suicide for overload fine

A truck owner appears to have committed suicide because of a fine for overloading his truck, government authorities in central China's Henan Province said Tuesday.

Zhang Gaoxing and his wife Hou Yan drank pesticide at a road overload control station in Minquan County in the city of Shangqiu on Monday after the station demanded a 30,000-yuan (4,890 US dollars) fine, said a spokesman with the county government.

Zhang died on the way to hospital and Hou, whose condition is not life threatening, is still receiving treatment, according to the spokesman.

According to the county government, the ticket was issued on Sep. 27 as the total weight of the truck and the coal loaded reached 114.04 tonnes, 107 percent higher than the load limit. The driver signed the confirmation list but abandoned the loaded truck without payment.

Although agreeing to pay the fine, the couple tried twice to persuade the station to release their truck without their unloading the excess cargo, but were denied.

"The truck had seals on the loaded coal compartments, and removing the seals would mean a loss of more than 100,000 yuan," said Zhang's friend Gu Huawei.

Gu said Zhang was paying 12,000 yuan per month for the truck loan, and over the past months, while the truck had been detained, he had no earnings.

Further investigation is under way.

Trucks in China are often found overloaded as owners and drivers would rather risk fines and seek more profit. Overloaded vehicles are often allowed to continue their journeys after drivers pay the fines.

A similar case happened last November when a woman truck owner in Yongcheng City attempted suicide over overloading fine. Road and transportation authorities insisted on fining her although she had already paid an annual "fee" of 3,000 yuan and a monthly "fee" of the same sum to the two departments.