A woman who lost grandson due to sudden acceleration accident acquitted

The police concluded that there were no charges against the woman in her 60ties who lost her 12-year-old grandson in a suspected sudden acceleration accident last December while driving a sports utility vehicle (SUV) in Gangneung, Gangwon Province. She had been booked on charges of causing death under the Special Act on Traffic Accidents.

On Tuesday, Gangneung Police announced that it decided not to transfer driver A in this case due to insufficient evidence. The police's decision reflects that it did not accept the results of the National Forensic Science, which acknowledged the possibility of her negligence. “The accident could have occurred because the driver of the vehicle stepped on the accelerator pedal, not the brake,” said the NFS. “On the grounds that no mechanical defects with the possibility of malfunction were found in the vehicle's braking system.

The woman filed a civil suit against the manufacturer, claiming the results could not be trusted. The sound analysis results by a private professional organization submitted in the civil lawsuit showed that no sound was detected on changing the shift lever based on the dash cam installed inside the vehicle.

The police also judged that the analysis results of the NFS had limitations because they were not tested while the engine was in operation. “We believed that the National Forensic Service’s analysis results were insufficient to be used as evidence to support Mr. A’s negligence,” said a police official.

This incident occurred around 4 p.m. on December 6 last year when the vehicle driven by A fell to the side of the road in Hongje-dong, Gangneung. Her grandson, who was riding the car, was killed, and petitions from all over the country flooded in asking for mercy. With approximately 50,000 people signing the petition for ‘Shifting responsibility for proving the cause of defects in the event of a suspected sudden acceleration accident’ submitted by A’s family to the National Assembly in February of this year, discussions are underway on whether to revise the law.


In-Mo Lee imlee@donga.com