A report from the National Institute of Scientific Investigation confirmed that there was no defect in the vehicle involved in the reverse-driving accident in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, which resulted in 9 casualties. The driver in his 70s, identified as A, claimed sudden acceleration.
According to police on the 19th, the Cheongju Sangdang Police Station received a report from the National Institute of Scientific Investigation indicating that driver A pressed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal just before the accident, based on an analysis of the vehicle's Event Data Recorder (EDR).
At the time of the accident, the vehicle was traveling at about 150 km/h, and it was found that the accelerator pedal was pressed instead of the brake pedal. The police are conducting further investigations into the circumstances of the accident, suspecting that the driver mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake.
Earlier, around 12:42 p.m. on March 30th, a Sonata sedan driven by A collided head-on with a small car waiting to turn left at the Namjung Intersection in Sogok-dong, Cheongju, while driving in the opposite direction. The accident resulted in the deaths of the driver (in his 80s) and two passengers (both in their 80s) in the small car.
Due to the impact of the accident, the small car was pushed into two other vehicles waiting in the adjacent lane, causing a chain collision that injured 6 people, including A.
It was found that A's vehicle did not stop once and sped approximately 1 km from the time it made a right turn at the gas station after washing the car until the accident site. The section where the reverse driving occurred was about 300 meters.
Immediately after the accident, A claimed that his vehicle had experienced sudden acceleration, and he was charged with manslaughter under the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling without detention.