'Pedestrian Dies After Falling on Back Road: Why Was the Driver Found at Fault?'

Driving Past Pedestrian Without Evasion or Slowing Down
Court Finds Driver Guilty but Suspends Sentence

In connection with an accident in which a pedestrian, trying to avoid a vehicle on a back road without a clear separation between the roadway and the sidewalk, lost balance, fell, and was fatally struck by a car, the court has held the driver criminally responsible and issued a suspended sentence with a fine.

Regarding the accident in which a pedestrian avoiding a vehicle on a narrow road lost balance, fell, and was hit by a car resulting in death, the court held the driver criminally responsible and issued a suspended sentence with a fine (photo provided for article understanding and unrelated to the content).

On July 27, the Chuncheon District Court's Criminal Division 1, presided over by Chief Judge Song Jonghwan, announced that it had suspended the imposition of a 7 million won fine for Mr. A (59), who had been indicted on charges of causing death under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents. A suspended sentence means that the punishment is not imposed immediately, and if no further crimes are committed during a set period, criminal penalties can be avoided.

The incident occurred on the morning of July 13 last year on a back road with no centerline. About 10 seconds after Mr. A's truck started moving from a stop, pedestrian Mr. B (66), who was trying to avoid the vehicle by stepping onto the curb, lost his balance, fell backward, and his head was run over by the rear wheel of the truck.

The prosecution indicted Mr. A, arguing that he failed to maintain a sufficient safety distance when passing the pedestrian and did not reduce his speed, thus neglecting his duty of care. However, Mr. A's side contended that it was difficult to foresee the pedestrian's fall.

The court, based on the black box footage from the scene, concluded that Mr. A was at fault. At the time, Mr. B was walking slowly with a cane, stopped upon noticing the approaching vehicle, and stepped onto the curb. However, Mr. A drove closer to the center of the road rather than keeping to the far right edge, and instead of slowing down, he accelerated, which was pointed out as a problem.

Additionally, it was considered unfavorable that while Mr. A had steered the vehicle further to the left to avoid the pedestrian when starting from a stop, at the moment of the accident, he instead drove closer to the pedestrian.

Judge Song stated, "The defendant feels responsible for the victim's death caused by the accident, the degree of negligence was not severe, and a satisfactory settlement was reached with the bereaved family, so a suspended sentence was decided."

This ruling reaffirms that on back roads or similar areas where the roadway and sidewalk are not clearly separated, drivers must exercise their duty of care by ensuring sufficient safety distance from pedestrians. The court made clear that when vehicles and pedestrians encounter each other on narrow roads, drivers must be especially cautious, and if an accident occurs due to negligence, criminal responsibility can be imposed.