7-Year-Old Hit by Red-Light Running Delivery Motorcycle... Driver Smokes Without Apology

Smoking and Watching Without Taking Action
Victim's Parents Outraged at Perpetrator's Attitude
Only Liability Insurance, Compensation Limited to 500,000 Won

A 7-year-old child was seriously injured after being struck by a delivery motorcycle that ran a red light while she was crossing a crosswalk. The child's parents expressed anger at the driver's irresponsible behavior and strongly demanded a swift police investigation as well as strict adherence to traffic signals by delivery motorcycle riders.

This photo is for illustrative purposes only and is unrelated to the article content. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to fire authorities and police on August 8, the incident occurred on August 5 at the Naegok-dong intersection in Gangneung, when a 7-year-old girl, referred to as A, was hit and seriously injured by a delivery motorcycle driven by a man in his 20s, identified as B, who failed to obey the traffic signal. Immediately after the accident, A was transported by a fire department helicopter to a nearby large hospital, underwent surgery, and is currently recovering.

A's parents told Yonhap News, "While our child was hurrying to cross as the green light was about to end, a motorcycle traveling at 40 to 50 km/h struck her," adding, "The driver seemed not to have seen the child following behind, as he said, 'The light will change soon, so cross quickly.'" They also said, "We could not contain our anger seeing the driver just smoking a cigarette after the accident without taking any action."

The driver was only covered by liability insurance, with a maximum compensation limit of 500,000 won. As a result, most of A's medical expenses must be covered by the family's own insurance.

The parents stated, "We have not received any apology or contact from the driver," and added, "We want strict punishment without any settlement." They further emphasized the importance of obeying traffic signals, saying, "Although we had often seen delivery motorcycles ignore traffic lights, we never imagined such an accident would happen to our child."

The police have booked driver B on charges of injury under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents and are currently investigating the details of the incident.