Getting too quick to make the news

"We are not high-ranking officials or rich business people," declared the mother of the Lamborghini driver who was allegedly racing with a Ferrari driver before both supercars crashed in the tunnel near the Bird's Nest stadium, on the rainy Saturday night.

It might be easier to define a person as someone he is not, rather than who he is. But the mother was obviously trying to distance her son from two groups of people who are resented in today's China - capricious children of corrupt officials and people enriching themselves through illegal means. This mood hit boiling point after the son of a top State leader's official was killed in a speeding incident involving a Ferrari that included two female passengers three years ago.

In the latest case, the Lamborghini and Ferrari, costing more than $640,000 each, were ruined. Both drivers were safe and one passenger was injured.

"I am willing to bear legal liability for the truthfulness of my statement," the mother said.

Her open pledge of honesty seems like a desperate response to the enormous pressure from public opinion, which can pile up into assumptions that pass moral judgment on actions or events that have yet to be fully ascertained.

Newsbreaking reports on Saturday's crash, especially those online, can easily give the reader the impression that bad boys of corrupt officials or decadent businessmen were behind the racing wheel, with any incriminating evidence covered up for powerful suspects. One might also be led to think that a sex scandal was involved, since the passenger was being highlighted as a woman.

"What are their names? Who are their fathers?" Agence France-Presse, a Paris-based international news agency, quoted a "netizen" as asking.

The father of the Lamborghini driver later told the Beijing News newspaper that he was discharged from military service many years ago, "certainly not as a high-ranking officer", and that the car was bought with the money made by him and his son from the booming stock market of these two years.

The two drivers have since been detained on suspicion of dangerous driving - at 160 km/h.

As adults, the drivers should be fully accountable for their actions and pay for any misconduct. There might be more to the traffic accident than meets the eye, but it is just that at this point of time.

Which means the main issue now is that of traffic safety for the general public. The crash occurred in a 1.2 km-long tunnel that has long been a favorite venue for car racers, who traffic police seem to have been ignoring.

The media have a justifiable right to ask questions to the relevant parties for readers. But they must also choose the right questions and the right angles - because the need to abide by the law applies to all.

Contact the writer at wanghao@chinadaily.com.cn