"Please Give Me a Pedal Black Box" Surge in Sales After Sicheong Station Wrong-Way Crash

236 Sudden Acceleration Reports, 0 Confirmed Cases
Black Box Tops Popular Products List

As traffic accidents claiming sudden unintended acceleration continue to occur, the number of drivers seeking pedal-recording black boxes is surging.

Pedal black box screen. Data released by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority.
[Photo by UNECE website]

Pedal black boxes record the driver's foot movements. Since there are currently no recognized cases of sudden unintended acceleration in Korea, these devices can be used as evidence that the driver did not press the accelerator. According to data submitted by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority to Yoon Jong-gun, a member of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, there have been 236 reports of sudden unintended acceleration from 2017 to June of this year, but not a single case has been officially recognized as such.

Google Trends, which reflects public interest based on search volume, shows that the interest index for "pedal black box," which was zero just before the reverse driving accident at Sicheong Station, increased for five consecutive days starting from July 1, the day of the accident. The interest index, which was 12 on the first day, rose to 59, 66, 86, and 100 thereafter. On online sales sites of black box vendors, pedal black box products ranked first and second among the top 10 weekly popular items. "Inquiry calls have increased nearly 100 times compared to before," and "sales have increased by about 300%," with sellers reporting a sharp rise in pedal black box sales.

Meanwhile, the driver involved in the reverse driving disaster at Sicheong Station reiterated during a police investigation on the 4th that "the brake felt hard" at the time of the accident, claiming sudden unintended acceleration due to vehicle malfunction. The driver stated that the vehicle accelerated rapidly, and although the brake was pressed, it did not work, leading to the accident. The police, analyzing the Genesis G80 Event Data Recorder (EDR), concluded that the driver pressed the accelerator pedal strongly just before the accident. Analysis of surrounding CCTV footage showed that the auxiliary brake lights were not on during the reverse driving, and no skid marks were found throughout the accident site.

However, the police are keeping various possibilities open, including vehicle and mechanical defects, and will make a final judgment on sudden unintended acceleration after receiving detailed analysis results from the National Forensic Service and others.