A man in his 60s, who drove a 1-ton truck into a crowded market in Bucheon last year, causing casualties to 22 people, admitted to his charges in his first trial. On the 13th, Judge Hwang Bang-mo of the Incheon District Court’s Bucheon branch proceeded with the first public hearing on Mr. A (68), who was indicted and detained on charges of vehicular manslaughter under the Special Act on Traffic Accidents.
During the trial, Mr. A’s lawyer stated, “We acknowledge most of the prosecution’s charges.” The incident occurred at 10:54 a.m. on November 13 of the previous year, where Mr. A allegedly ran over and killed a man in his 20s and two women in their 60s to 70s with his truck. The prosecution plans to bring additional charges to trial concerning the other victims, including an 80-year-old woman who died and 18 people aged 10 to 70 who were injured.
The investigation revealed that Mr. A got out of the vehicle after leaving the gear in reverse. In a state of panic when the truck started moving, he hurriedly climbed back into the driver’s seat and mistakenly shifted the gear into drive. The “pedal black box” in Mr. A’s vehicle showed that he pressed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake at the time of the accident.
Mr. A initially stated that he has been suffering from Moyamoya disease, a cerebrovascular disorder, for over five years, but later claimed that it did not affect his ability to drive and that he faced no particular issues on the day of the accident. Moyamoya disease is a brain condition that causes narrowing of blood vessels, which can lead to symptoms such as cerebral hemorrhage if it worsens.