BMW Driver Causes Fatal Accident by Crashing into Ambulance at 134 km/h

Despite Previous Speeding Penalties, Another Accident Occurs
Uninsured... Compensation for Victims Uncertain

A BMW driver who collided with an ambulance transporting an emergency patient at a speed of 134 km/h in the middle of the city, causing 7 casualties, has been arrested.

Last August, a driver who crashed into an ambulance at a speed of 134 km/h in Cheonan, Chungnam, causing 7 casualties, was arrested. [Photo by Cheonan Seobuk Police Station]

According to the legal community on the 29th, the Criminal Division 2 of the Cheonan Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Choi Yong-rak) indicted a man in his 40s, Mr. A, on the previous day on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (dangerous driving causing death or injury).

Mr. A was driving a BMW passenger car at an eight-lane intersection in Buldang-dong, Cheonan-si, Chungnam Province, around 10:52 p.m. on August 21, when he collided with a 119 ambulance crossing the intersection on a red light to transport a patient.

The speed limit on the road at the time was 60 km/h, but Mr. A’s vehicle was traveling at 134 km/h. Mr. A was not under the influence of alcohol.

As a result of the accident, a woman in her 70s, who was riding as a guardian of her husband, was thrown out of the vehicle and died. One patient and three paramedics were injured, and Mr. A and his passenger were also injured.

According to the analysis of the vehicle’s black box footage and on-site CCTV footage by the police, the ambulance hesitated at the red light and was about to go straight when Mr. A’s vehicle struck the right rear of the ambulance.

Mr. A, who caused the accident, was not enrolled in mandatory driver insurance, so the victims received no compensation. Additionally, Mr. A had a prior record of punishment for speeding.

The police sent Mr. A to prosecution without detention, but the prosecution directly arrested him considering that he caused a fatal accident by speeding again despite having a prior punishment for speeding, that the victims received no compensation due to lack of mandatory driver insurance, and that the bereaved families pleaded for severe punishment.

A prosecution official stated, "We will do our utmost to maintain the prosecution to ensure punishment commensurate with the crime," and added, "We will respond strictly to traffic offenders who repeatedly engage in speeding and reckless driving, disrupting traffic order."