A man in the Shandong city of Zibo, China, was driving back home when he crashed into an electric scooter carrying a woman and child.

Instead of stopping, he fled the scene.

Later that night, he was arrested by the police at his home.

That was when he was told that the scooter he hit was carrying his own wife and son.

Man drove back separately from wife and son

According to local news, the man, surnamed Zhang, told police that he, his wife, and his son had gone to a relative's home that night for dinner.

Zhang drank during the meal.

Afterwards, while he drove home in his van, his wife and son left using an electric scooter.

After Zhang fled the scene, residents who heard the crash called for an ambulance.

His wife survived, but unfortunately, his son died at the hospital.

The case is undergoing investigation.

A somewhat similar tragedy happened in 2015 in the city of Anhui.

A man drove past an injured woman covered in blood on the side of the road, only to learn later that the woman was his own mother.

She had been struck in an earlier hit-and-run.

Feeling that something was amiss, he drove back in the direction from where he came from.

But he was too late; his mother died on the way to the hospital.

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"Good Samaritan Law"

There have been instances in China of people getting extorted for money after helping others.

This is why many Chinese are hesitant when it comes to offering a hand in such cases.

The "Good Samaritan Law" that seeks to provide legal protection for people who offer assistance to those in need finally went into effect in October last year.

But critics doubt that the law, no matter how broad, would do much to help.

This is because of the perceived lack of trust in Chinese society due to the sheer number of pengci practitioners - scammers who fake injury from accidents to extort money.

You can watch the video of the news report here:

[video width="1280" height="720" mp4="https://static.mothership.sg/1/2018/04/hitandrun.mp4"][/video]

Top image via Miaopai