Mr. Cha Claims Sudden Acceleration in Call with Chosun Ilbo
Veteran Driver Kept Pressing Brake
On-Site Witnesses and Experts Argue It Was Not Sudden Acceleration
On the morning of the 2nd, memorial messages were posted at the accident site near Exit 7 of City Hall Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, where a major traffic accident occurred last night. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Regarding the accident at City Hall Station that resulted in a total of 15 casualties, including 9 deaths, the driver of the offending vehicle, Cha Mo (68), claimed that the cause of the accident was a "sudden unintended acceleration" of the vehicle.
On the morning of the 2nd, Chosun Ilbo reported on a phone conversation with Mr. Cha. He told Chosun Ilbo, "It was 100% sudden unintended acceleration. I kept pressing the brake, but the vehicle did not respond." Mr. Cha also said that on the evening of the 1st, after finishing an event at the Westin Chosun Seoul in Jung-gu, Seoul, he felt that the car was behaving unusually compared to normal.
Mr. Cha told Chosun Ilbo, "I have been driving for a long time and am currently a city bus driver, so I had this feeling, but then suddenly the vehicle surged forward." He also said he is an experienced driver who obtained his license in 1974.
However, eyewitnesses at the scene and experts have differing opinions on Mr. Cha’s claims. An eyewitness, Mr. A, who identified himself as the owner of a shop near the accident site, appeared on CBS Radio’s "Kim Hyun-jung’s News Show" that morning and said, "This is a one-way street. But if it was sudden unintended acceleration, the brakes wouldn’t have worked and the vehicle would have gone straight, yet the offending vehicle came the opposite way." He added, "Then it broke through the guardrail and ended up near the crosswalk. I wonder how it got all the way there." Mr. A also said, "If it came from the Westin Chosun Hotel, it seems to have driven in reverse for more than 200 meters," and "It pushed through more than four railings, and even pushed a motorcycle in front of the store. The speed was definitely not normal."
Professor Yeom Geon-ung of the Department of Police and Fire Administration at U1 University explained on the same radio show, "Usually, sudden unintended acceleration vehicles accelerate due to electronic malfunctions. There are almost no cases where the vehicle normalizes and slows down or returns to a level where the driver can control it." He added, "But looking at the footage from the incident, the offending vehicle gradually slowed down and came to a precise stop." He continued, "There are various possibilities, but considering the vehicle entered by driving in reverse, it is possible that a flustered driver confused the brake pedal with the accelerator and sped up in panic. Also, since there was a passenger, there could be other possibilities such as the driver acting out of anger due to a dispute with the passenger."
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