SEOUL – South Korean police announced on July 3 that they have identified skid marks left by a car that killed nine pedestrians on July 1. Experts believe these marks could be crucial in reconstructing the accident.
Skid marks can help calculate a car’s speed at the time of an accident and determine whether the driver attempted to brake before the collision. Authorities are also using an event data recorder to investigate the moments leading up to the crash. This device, installed in vehicles, records specific technical data and occupant information before, during, and after a crash.
Police have requested an investigation of black boxes and security camera footage from the accident site to verify the driver’s claim of a vehicle malfunction. Initial analysis of nearby camera footage confirmed that the car’s auxiliary brake lights did not turn on when it was being driven on the wrong side of the road.
A comprehensive analysis of the car by the National Forensic Service has been requested and will likely take one to two months.
Mr. Chung Yong-woo, a senior police officer at Namdaemun Police Station, reported that another injury had been identified, bringing the total number of casualties to 16, including the nine fatalities. The injured individual was accompanying another victim to the hospital at the time of the accident and had sustained minor injuries. This person was a colleague of two employees at the Seoul Metropolitan Government who died in the accident.
The 68-year-old driver, identified as Cha, is reportedly a bus driver in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, with over 40 years of driving experience. Cha’s car, a Genesis sedan, plowed through a pavement guardrail and struck people waiting to cross the road near Seoul City Hall at 9:27 PM on July 1. The vehicle was driving the wrong way on a one-way street and collided with two cars after hitting the pedestrians.
When questioned about allegations that the accident occurred after the driver had an argument with his wife, Mr. Chung dismissed the rumor as “not true.” The wife, who was in the vehicle at the time, told police during the initial interrogation that “the brakes didn’t work.”
Authorities are investigating whether a sudden unintended acceleration was to blame for the crash or if it was due to careless driving. Police plan to question the driver once his physical condition improves.
In response to the accident, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced plans to collaborate with the Korean National Police Agency to strengthen driving license aptitude tests for senior citizens and encourage elderly drivers to surrender their licenses, amid a rise in nationwide car accidents involving older drivers.