[Summary] One Year Prison Sentence for 'Kalchigi' Causing Paraplegia in High School Girl... "Punishment Should Be Harsher" Outrage

[Image source = Yonhap News]

[Image source = Cheongwadae National Petition Board]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] The perpetrator has been sentenced to one year in prison for the 'cutting-in accident' that occurred last December in Jinju, Gyeongnam, which left a high school senior girl paralyzed from head to toe while riding a city bus. As the victim's family protested the first trial verdict and appealed for severe punishment through a national petition, voices are growing that the detection and punishment levels for cutting-in accidents are significantly low.

According to Changwon District Court on the 28th, on the 21st of last month, Judge Lee Jong-gi of Jinju Branch Criminal Division 1 sentenced Mr. A to one year in prison for violating the Special Act on the Treatment of Traffic Accidents.

Mr. A suddenly cut in front of a city bus with his Rexton SUV on a road in Jinju City on December 16 last year. When the bus made an emergency stop, high school student Ms. B was thrown from the very back seat toward the front seat, hitting the coin box and sustaining serious injuries.

Ms. B had just boarded the bus before the emergency stop and did not have time to sit down. She hit her head on the fare box, fracturing her neck and was diagnosed with paralysis of all four limbs.

Ms. B’s older sister said, "Throughout the trial, Mr. A did not apologize or visit the hospital but only sought a criminal settlement to reduce his sentence, resulting in a light sentence of one year in prison. My sister, who was about to graduate from high school and had not even submitted her college application, is now living an indefinite hospital life without realizing her dreams. The perpetrator is also a parent raising a daughter; I wonder how he would react if his own daughter suffered such severe injuries and how he could be so irresponsible and lack basic human decency."

[Image source = Han Moon-cheol TV capture]

The so-called cutting-in driving, which involves aggressively squeezing into narrow spaces between cars, still frequently occurs on quiet early mornings or local highways.

The National Police Agency has designated cutting-in as one of the three major traffic disorders, along with signal violations and tailgating, and discourages such behavior to eradicate it. However, retaliatory and reckless driving accidents caused by cutting-in continue every year.

In 2019, Mr. C in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City, was widely condemned online after he violently assaulted Mr. D, a passenger car driver who protested his cutting-in, in front of Mr. D’s wife and children.

In 2018, a cutting-in accident caused by drunk driving by Hwang Min, the ex-husband of actress Park Hae-mi, resulted in two deaths and three injuries.

The problem is that it is difficult to detect and punish this 'cutting-in driving,' which is called the outlaw of the road.

Even with patrol cars or drones, reckless driving like cutting-in happens in an instant, so it is not easy for the police to catch it even if they happen to witness the scene. Victims have no choice but to secure evidence such as black box footage themselves and report it.

There is also controversy over the level of punishment.

Under the general Special Act on the Treatment of Traffic Accidents, if an accident occurs due to careless driving, the driver can be sentenced to imprisonment of up to five years or fined up to 20 million won according to Article 3, Paragraph 1. However, punishment cannot be imposed against the explicit will of the victim. There is an exception known as the 12 major traffic violations.

Specifically, acts such as signal violations, crossing the center line, speeding, and violating pedestrian protection duties at crosswalks are not subject to the victim’s consent rule, so prosecution and punishment can occur even if the victim agrees. However, cutting-in is not included in the 12 major violations except in prohibited areas such as bridges, underground tunnels, or solid line sections. This means that if a traffic accident occurs due to aggressive cutting-in in permitted sections, prosecution will not occur if the victim agrees to a settlement.

As a result, netizens are voicing opinions that "the detection and punishment levels for cutting-in should be increased." In fact, posts about threats from reckless drivers such as cutting-in can often be found in online communities where drivers gather. One driver posted, "When a large vehicle cuts in on the highway, I feel my life is threatened. They come in honking without even using turn signals, almost causing an accident."

The police said, "Although the police crack down on reckless driving with undercover patrol cars, it is difficult for the police to directly recognize cutting-in driving on highways and other places," and urged, "It would be good if victims actively report public interest cases with black box footage as evidence through the National Police Agency’s online reporting system."