Supreme Court: "Medical Student Killed by Drunk Driver... Compensation Must Be Calculated Based on Future Doctor Income"

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court has ruled that when a medical student dies in a traffic accident, the compensation for damages should be calculated based on the income they would have earned if they had become a doctor in the future.

On the 2nd, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Kim Jaehyung) announced that it overturned the lower court's ruling, which partially dismissed the plaintiffs' claims, in the appeal case filed by the family of medical student A, who died after being hit by a drunk driver B, against the insurance company C representing the driver, and remanded the case to the Seoul Central District Court.

Previously, on the early morning of September 7, 2014, in Cheonan City, Chungnam Province, B, who was driving in a state of severe intoxication with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.170%, struck A while crossing a crosswalk. As a result of this accident, A, who was a third-year medical student at the time, passed away at the age of 24.

The bereaved family claimed, "If the accident had not occurred, A would have graduated from university, passed the national medical licensing exam, obtained a license, and earned income as a doctor until the age of 65," and calculated lost income based on the average monthly salary of male healthcare professionals, demanding a total compensation of about 1 billion KRW. Lost income refers to the income that could have been earned if the accident had not occurred and work had continued.

The first trial court stated, "It is difficult to conclude that A would definitely have obtained a medical license and worked as a doctor to earn income," and calculated lost income based on the average income of males aged 25 to 29 with at least a college degree but not necessarily doctors, setting the total compensation at about 500 million KRW. The second trial court also upheld this judgment and dismissed the family's appeal.

However, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial and reconsideration of the case. The court stated, "If the victim was attending a university that trains professionals and there is a significant likelihood that they would have earned income as a professional, lost income should be calculated based on the average income statistics of employed professionals."

Furthermore, the court pointed out, "A achieved relatively good grades at university, and the pass rate for the national medical licensing exam from 2012 to 2015 for students who enrolled in the medical school up to the second semester of the third year without repeating or taking a leave of absence was between 92% and 100%. The lower court erred in its legal reasoning regarding the calculation of damages, which affected the judgment."