Supreme Court: Drivers Responsible for Accidents at Unsignalized Crosswalks

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] The Supreme Court has ruled that pedestrians must be given priority even at crosswalks without traffic lights. This means that even if a vehicle enters first and an accident occurs when a pedestrian steps in afterward, the driver can still be held responsible.

On the 18th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Cheolsang Ahn) announced that it dismissed the appeal of Mr. A, who was charged with violating the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling (causing injury).

Mr. A, a taxi driver, was on trial for injuring the right leg of a 7-year-old child by hitting them at a crosswalk without traffic lights while driving in the evening of April 2019. The accident occurred when the victim, who was not visible when Mr. A’s vehicle entered the crosswalk, suddenly stepped onto the crosswalk.

The issue lies in the current Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling, which exempts drivers who caused accidents by negligence from criminal prosecution if they have insurance, as a special provision for some criminal penalties. This is intended to facilitate prompt recovery for traffic accident victims. However, no such exemption is granted for the 12 major violations, which are punished under criminal law.

Accordingly, the prosecution regarded this case as a violation of the "duty to protect pedestrians at crosswalks" and brought charges against Mr. A.

However, the first trial court dismissed the indictment, stating that the "duty to protect pedestrians at crosswalks" under the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling is difficult to apply to accidents at crosswalks without traffic lights, as in this case.

The second trial court overturned this decision. It found that Mr. A violated the "duty to protect pedestrians" under the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling. Since prosecution is possible, the case should be heard, and thus it sent the case back to the first trial court. Considering that the Road Traffic Act does not impose special restrictions based on the presence or absence of traffic lights, it was judged that the driver's "duty to protect pedestrians" applies to crosswalks without traffic lights as well.

Mr. A appealed, but the Supreme Court did not accept it. The court ruled, "All drivers have an obligation to ensure that pedestrians’ passage is not obstructed, such as by temporarily stopping the vehicle, even when entering a crosswalk without traffic lights."