Key question: Did the driver leave the scene despite knowing about the accident?
A woman in her 50s in the front passenger seat of the other vehicle died
The police are investigating the truck driver in connection with an accident in which cargo loaded on a truck struck the median strip, causing the death of a passenger in an oncoming vehicle.
According to Yonhap News and the Anseong Police Station in Gyeonggi Province on the 5th, the police are investigating a man in his 50s, identified as Mr. A, the truck driver, on suspicion of causing the accident. The accident occurred at 2:10 p.m. on February 2, when a large crane that had been loaded on Mr. A's truck in a towed configuration struck the median strip while the truck was traveling on National Route 38 in Samjuk-myeon, Anseong.
The impact of the collision caused a glare-protection screen, a steel-plate structure installed on top of the median strip to block the glare of headlights, to bend and rotate, whereupon it collided with a Sorento vehicle approaching from the opposite direction. A woman in her 50s, identified as Ms. B, who was seated in the front passenger seat of the Sorento, died in the accident.
Mr. A is said to have reported to the police about two hours after the accident, stating that the glare-protection screen was caught on the crane he had been transporting. Based on dashboard camera footage from Ms. B's vehicle and other evidence, the police subsequently identified Mr. A as the driver involved in the accident and are questioning him. Mr. A has reportedly stated to the police that he only became aware an accident had occurred after leaving the scene and then checking the cargo.
The police plan to determine what charges to apply based on whether Mr. A is deemed to have committed a so-called hit-and-run. If it is found that he was aware the accident had occurred but left the scene without taking any action, the police are expected to consider applying charges such as causing death by fleeing the scene under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
Even if Mr. A did not recognize this, given that the accident resulted in a fatality, he is expected to face charges such as causing death under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents. In addition, the police are examining whether safety management of the facility was properly carried out by the Suwon National Land Management Office, which is responsible for managing the glare-protection screen installed at the accident site.
The police recently conducted a joint on-site investigation with the Korea Road Traffic Authority and plan to review the overall circumstances of the case after receiving the results of the authority's investigation.
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