Brake Applied After Vehicle Collision
Sent to Prosecution Custody on the 1st
The police have concluded that the cause of the 'Sicheong Station wrong-way driving accident,' which resulted in 9 deaths, was driver Cha's (68) 'lack of driving skill,' and it is reported that all the bereaved families want punishment.
On the 1st, at a final investigation briefing on the Sicheong Station accident, the Seoul Namdaemun Police Station stated, "There has been no agreement with the bereaved families," and "All the bereaved families want punishment." They added, "From immediately after the accident, we continuously informed the bereaved families about the investigation plans and details, and the investigation results were also first communicated to the victims and their families," and "Upon hearing the investigation results, they expressed an unconditional desire for punishment."
At around 9:26 p.m. on the 1st of last month, a G80 vehicle driven by Cha on Namdaemun-ro 1-gil in Jung-gu, Seoul, drove the wrong way on a one-way street and crashed onto the sidewalk, resulting in 9 deaths and 7 injuries including the driver and passengers. Cha consistently claimed in three police investigations that the accident was caused by sudden unintended acceleration due to a vehicle defect.
However, according to the police's final investigation, Cha pressed the 'full accelerator' (accelerator pedal displacement 99%) for about 4 seconds out of the 5 seconds from 5 seconds before the accident to the moment it occurred. Cha exited the underground parking lot of the Chosun Hotel in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, began rapid acceleration, drove the wrong way on the one-way street in front of 60 Namdaemun-ro 1-gil, and crashed onto the sidewalk. The highest speed at the moment of impact with pedestrians was investigated to be 107 km/h. Cha, who kept pressing the accelerator, hit two vehicles proceeding with a normal signal at an intersection, and only applied the brakes upon reaching the opposite traffic island.
Earlier, Seoul Police Chief Jo Ji-ho said, "Decisive evidence came from an unexpected place," which was found to be the 'accelerator pedal tread pattern' imprinted on the sole of the shoes Cha was wearing at the time of the accident. Regarding the reason for crashing into the pedestrian protection fence, Cha stated, "I hit the pedestrian fence to reduce speed."
Immediately after the Sicheong Station accident last month, the police formed a dedicated task force (TF) and collaborated with expert appraisal agencies such as the National Forensic Service (NFS) and the Korea Road Traffic Authority to verify vehicle defects and reproduce the accident. Based on the investigation, the police applied for an arrest warrant for Cha on the 24th, and the court issued the warrant on the 30th.
The police results indicate that no mechanical defects were found in the accelerator or braking systems of the G80 vehicle driven by Cha. In particular, the event data recorder (EDR), considered decisive evidence, was confirmed to have recorded normally. According to the police, the brakes were not operated from 5 seconds before the accident until the moment it occurred, and CCTV footage and black box videos from witness vehicles showed that except for the auxiliary brake lights briefly flashing immediately after the collision, the brake lights were not on during driving.
The police explained, "We have concluded that the cause of the accident was the driver's lack of driving skill," and "On the 1st, Cha was sent to the prosecution under custody on charges of violating the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling (negligent homicide and injury in the course of work)."
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