Passenger in the back seat disputes fare... Drives slowly for about 40m on the highway
The court sentenced a taxi driver in his 60s to probation after causing a fatal accident while driving at a low speed on the highway.
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Seohyun] A taxi driver who caused a fatal accident by driving at a low speed on the highway was sentenced to probation. It was investigated that the taxi driver was arguing with the passenger over the fare at the time.
On the 5th, the Incheon District Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Lee Yeonjin) announced that taxi driver A (69), who was indicted on charges of causing death under the Special Act on the Treatment of Traffic Accidents, was sentenced to 8 months in prison with a 2-year probation.
A was indicted for causing a fatal accident while driving a taxi near the Seochang Junction (JC) on the Yeongdong Expressway in Namdong-gu, Incheon, around 11 p.m. on June 1 last year.
Before the accident, he was driving about 40 meters on the highway at a speed of 12 to 16 km/h while struggling with the passenger over the fare. At this time, a truck driven by B, who was following at 87 km/h, collided with A's taxi, and then a passenger car running in the adjacent lane also crashed into it, resulting in the death of the passenger car driver C (39) from brain damage and other injuries.
The court judged that A caused the fatal accident by driving the taxi at a speed far below the legally mandated minimum speed on the highway.
The court explained, "According to the Road Traffic Act, vehicles on the highway must not drive slower than the minimum speed unless there is congestion or other unavoidable reasons," and "the weather was clear and there was no traffic obstruction at the time of the accident."
It added, "The taxi's black box shows that A was driving at a low speed while not properly checking the front, continuously looking at the passenger sitting in the back seat and arguing over the fare," and "A's negligence in the course of duty was the cause that led to the fatal accident."
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