"Vehicle Damaged by Rock on Highway... Korea Expressway Corporation 'Please Retrieve the Rock'" [2024 National Audit]

1820 Cases of Falling Objects on Highways Reported
Only 7 Resulted in Compensation
"Compensation Review Committee Not Yet Formed"

Appearance of Kim Hee-jung, member of the People Power Party.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Kim Hee-jung, a member of the People Power Party, pointed out that "when a stone falls and breaks a vehicle's glass while driving on the highway, Korea Expressway Corporation responds by saying, 'Please bring the stone that damaged your vehicle glass,'" highlighting the difficulty of receiving compensation from Korea Expressway Corporation in cases of highway falling object accidents.

Kim made this statement on the 21st during the National Assembly's audit of the Korea Expressway Corporation.

According to the Korea Expressway Corporation's traffic safety management work standards, when an accident caused by falling objects occurs, the victim files a damage compensation claim with the corporation. If the cause of the falling object cannot be identified, compensation is determined based on whether there was negligence in the corporation's maintenance and management.

Kim pointed out, "Since 2020 until last September, there have been 1,820 damage compensation claims, but only 7 of these resulted in compensation."

She added, "The 7 compensated cases were clearly due to the corporation's installed objects falling, such as snow removal equipment falling off snow removal vehicles, problems with the snow removal materials themselves, or acrylic installed on the road falling. The rest, even when major accidents occurred, passed without any apology from the corporation. If this is how they operate, is there really a need to run toll roads?"

According to data Kim received from the Korea Expressway Corporation, from 2020 until last September, there were 1,820 claims for highway falling object damage compensation, with a total compensation amount of 9.63 million KRW. By year: 4 cases in 2020 (5.68 million KRW), 1 case in 2021 (470,000 KRW), 1 case in 2022 (1.4 million KRW), and 1 case this year (2.08 million KRW, counted until last September).

There have been 297 damage compensation lawsuits over the past five years, but there has not been a single case where the victim won.

Kim said, "If the Korea Expressway Corporation cannot identify the cause, they should determine whether to compensate and decide the compensation amount through a damage compensation review committee. However, such a committee has never been formed."

In response, Ham Jin-gyu, president of the Korea Expressway Corporation, said, "The damage compensation review committee for falling objects is established. If the claim amount is 3 million KRW or less, the formation of the committee can be omitted, which is why it has not been convened."

However, Kim rebutted, "They said the review can be omitted for claims under 3 million KRW, but they never said the committee itself does not need to be formed." She continued, "When I received a written response from the corporation, they said the committee had not been formed. Since President Ham's answer and the corporation's written response differ, please verify this accurately."