Policewoman Zheng Yongxin's Funeral: Driver Appears to Kneel and Apologize as Family Turns Away
The funeral of 28-year-old Tainan police officer Zheng Yongxin (鄭詠心) on Wednesday was marked by wrenching scenes of grief, anger, and an unfulfilled love story. Zheng was dressed in a wedding gown for her final journey — a gesture arranged by her family and fiancé to honor the marriage she had been planning before her life was cut short on April 28. Her fiancé, wearing both his ring and hers on a chain around his neck, stood at the altar with what witnesses described as "a determined expression but tears that wouldn't stop."
The tragedy unfolded on April 28 when Zheng, responding to a traffic incident on her police motorcycle, was rear-ended at high speed by a car driven by a 20-year-old female university student. The impact threw Zheng into the path of a passing tour bus, which ran over her. According to multiple media reports, the driver's first action after the crash was to check the damage to her own scooter, not to assist the downed officer — a detail that has fueled public fury. She waited five days before making any attempt to apologize to the family.
When the driver arrived at the funeral home on Wednesday, dressed entirely in black, she was met with a wall of hostility from mourners. Bystanders shouted, "If you're not going to kneel, don't come in!" The young woman knelt before Zheng's altar, offered incense, and wept as she apologized, but the officer's grieving family members turned their backs in unison and refused to acknowledge her. Zheng's mother, who is battling cancer, reportedly broke down upon seeing her daughter's reconstructed body in the wedding dress, crying out, "That's not my Yongxin!"
The case has become a national flashpoint for Taiwan's ongoing reckoning with traffic safety and driver accountability. Zheng was the third police officer killed in a traffic incident in Taiwan in less than a year. Advocacy groups have renewed calls for tougher penalties for reckless driving, expanded use of traffic cameras, and better protective equipment for officers on patrol. Zheng's brother told reporters through tears that he would "finish the homework she left behind" — a promise to carry forward her legacy of public service that resonated deeply across Taiwanese social media.