[Insight & Opinion] The Real Reason Why Safety Accidents Keep Happening

A horrific fire in the soundproof tunnel of the Galhyeon Overpass on the 2nd Gyeongin Expressway claimed 5 lives and injured 41 people. The sight of soundproof panels made of acrylic-based PMMA (polymethyl methacrylate) melting while spewing bright red flames and thick toxic smoke was devastating. Fortunately, it was not during a traffic jam. This tragedy occurred just two months after the 10·29 Halloween disaster.

This accident was also a man-made disaster that could have been prevented by our own efforts. The problem started with the use of cheap, flammable PMMA material for the soundproof tunnel. The painful experience of the overpass soundproof tunnel fire in Suwon two years ago was deliberately ignored. The soundproof wall fire on the Jungbu Naeryuk Expressway in Daegu on the 3rd was also caused by PMMA. Naturally, fire-resistant materials such as polycarbonate (PC) or tempered glass should have been used, even at a higher cost.

The structure of the soundproof tunnel was also a mess. There were no facilities to block the spread of fire, no equipment to exhaust smoke, and no evacuation routes. The blocking system at the tunnel entrance to prevent vehicle entry did not function properly. All of these were shallow tricks to reduce the construction costs of the soundproof tunnel. If sufficient investment had been made during the design and construction process, the situation would have been completely different.

The maintenance condition of the waste transport vehicle where the fire initially broke out was also terrible. Although there was a history of fire occurring during operation two years ago, no one paid attention. The driver’s blatant hypocrisy, arrogantly insisting not to be treated as a ‘suspect,’ was absurd. It seems that shamelessness and hypocrisy, which started in the political arena, have completely paralyzed our society’s ethical consciousness.

Safety accidents are not unfamiliar to us. The public safety loudly proclaimed by the government and politicians after the humidifier disinfectant and Sewol ferry disasters was all empty talk. The strong Serious Accident Punishment Act, which enforces heavy criminal penalties on business owners, is useless in this fire case. Ultimately, our safety apathy has not improved at all. It has been repeatedly confirmed that flashy rhetoric or simply strengthening laws and systems will never solve the problem.

Drastic measures are needed. A good starting point would be to firmly recognize monetary compensation for victims of safety accidents. This means that bereaved families should be able to receive appropriate compensation without publicly shedding tears of blood. The distorted perception in our society that victim compensation is a windfall or unearned income must be firmly corrected.

The courts must decisively change the standards for valuing human life in accident compensation. This means that compensation for death and injury must be drastically made more realistic. In fact, victims of international flight accidents are avoiding our courts because U.S. courts recognize compensation more than ten times higher than ours.

With the currently meager compensation standards recognized by our courts, government ministries, public institutions, and companies have no incentive to actively invest in safety. In the case of the recent Gwacheon fire accident, compensation was left to the insurance company. From the perspective of the private company that builds and operates the expressway, there is no reason to regret choosing PMMA over the more expensive polycarbonate.

Lee Deok-hwan (Professor Emeritus at Sogang University, Chemistry & Science Communication)