An Elderly Man Wearing Dark Clothes Lying Face Down at Midnight... Driver Involved in Fatal Accident Found 'Not Guilty'

Court: "An Unprecedented Event That Was Difficult to Foresee"

A driver in his 40s who fatally struck a man in his 70s lying face down on the road wearing dark-colored clothes late at night was acquitted.

On the 9th, Judge Kwon No-eul of the Cheongju District Court Criminal Division 1 single judge court sentenced the 40-year-old defendant A, who was tried on charges of causing death by violation of the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling, to not guilty, according to Yonhap News. A was prosecuted for hitting and killing B (in his 70s), who was lying face down with his head raised on a road in Namim-myeon, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, Chungbuk, while driving his passenger car at about 10:43 p.m. on February 21 last year at a speed of 70 km/h for unknown reasons. At the time, there were no streetlights on the road, and B was reportedly wearing dark-colored clothes.

Cheongju District Court

Judge Kwon explained, "Looking at the vehicle's black box, only about 1 to 2 seconds passed from the moment B was identified to the impact," adding, "It appears the defendant had no time to operate the braking device." He further stated, "It is difficult to see that B died due to the defendant's negligence," and "The driver cannot be held to a duty of care for such an unforeseeable and exceptional event," explaining the reason for the not guilty verdict.

Meanwhile, recently, in a similar case where a driver caused a fatal accident due to an unforeseeable situation, the driver was acquitted in both the first trial and the appeal. In February, the Ulsan District Court Criminal Appeal Division 1-3 (Chief Judge Lee Bong-su) also acquitted 60-year-old C, who was tried on charges of causing death by violation of the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling, as in the original trial.

C was indicted for hitting and killing 80-year-old D on a crosswalk while driving on a road in Ulsan early in the morning in December 2021. At the time, D started crossing when the pedestrian green light was flashing and continued crossing even after the light turned red, resulting in the accident. The first trial court acquitted C, citing the difficulty for the driver to predict that someone would cross the crosswalk when the pedestrian signal was red.

The appellate court, after reviewing the circumstances of the accident, also judged that it would have been difficult for C to notice D crossing the road. It considered that it was dark before sunrise and that the headlights of the car opposite C obstructed his view. The appellate court explained the reason for the verdict, stating, "It cannot be simply concluded that this accident occurred due to the driver violating the duty to keep watch ahead."