Report: Arcadia driver charged in teen's death could not have avoided accident

ARCADIA - An Arcadia driver charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of 16-year-old Alice Zhang in April did not have enough time to react to avoid the fatal accident, according to an expert retained by the defendant's attorney.

Zhang, 16, was killed after Bowen Du, driving his father's 1997 Lexus sedan, struck the teenager and her friend as they crossed a busy crosswalk in the 600 block of West Duarte Road. Du pleaded not guilty in June to one count of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Arcadia police officers have said the car's windshield was "excessively dirty" and that - combined with the setting sun at the time - played a major role in the collision's cause.

"The stopped vehicles in the #2 westbound lane (of Duarte Road) would have obstructed Bowen Du's view as he was approaching the crosswalk," stated the July 6 report by accident reconstruction expert Keith Miller and Associates, Inc. for Attorney Evan P. Freed.

Assuming a walking speed of 5.5 feet per second, it would have taken the two teenagers about 1.3 seconds to travel the 7 feet to the area of impact.

"Even if we don't consider the position of the sun or a dirty windshield, a motorist would not have enough time to perceive, react, and avoid an impact," according to the report.

Speed, intoxication and cellphone use have all been ruled out as factors. Du told police after the April 10 accident that he did not immediately realize

what had happened.

"Because the sun is really shining, so I was not sure about what I hit," Du wrote in a statement to police. "I stopped my car after 5 seconds. I walked out of my car and saw two girls lying on the ground."

Although Du's friend said she had pushed the flashing warning light system, "all independent witnesses stated that they did not recall seeing any of the crosswalk lights illuminated," according to the accident reconstruction report.

In addition, the photographs taken by the investigating officer of the car and the windshield do not accurately depict what a motorist would have seen at the time of the accident, it stated.

The report, however, failed to address how or why Du failed to stop after other cars had stopped at the crosswalk, which is required by the California Vehicle Code.

Du, a Pasadena City College student, faces up to six years in state prison if convicted and up to three more years if convicted of causing serious injury to Priyanka Patel, 16, of Upland.