Police analyze tire tracks to reconstruct car accident in city center

Namdaemun police are investigating the fatal car crash that killed nine people on Monday night, saying on Wednesday they had discovered skid marks from the vehicle that experts say could help reconstruct the accident.

Skid marks are an important piece of evidence for calculating the speed of the vehicle at the time of the accident and determining whether the driver attempted to brake before the collision.

Authorities are reportedly using an accident data recorder – a device built into vehicles that records certain technical information about the vehicle and its occupants for a short period of time before, during and after an accident – ​​to investigate the moments leading up to the collision.

In addition, police have requested an examination of the black boxes and CCTV footage at the accident scene to verify the driver’s claim that the accident was caused by a vehicle malfunction. They have also requested a thorough analysis of the car by the National Forensic Service, which is expected to take at least one to two months.

By analyzing footage from nearby cameras, officers also confirmed that the additional brake lights had not been turned on when the vehicle was driving on the wrong side of the road.

Chung Yong-woo, a senior police officer at the Namdaemun Police Station, told reporters during a press conference that there was one more injured person in Monday’s car crash in downtown Seoul, bringing the total number of victims to 16, including nine dead. The injured person was not at the scene of the accident as he was accompanying another victim to the hospital at the time of the accident, the official said.

According to authorities, the injured person was a colleague of two Seoul city government employees who died in the accident.

The 68-year-old driver, surnamed Cha, is reportedly a bus driver in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, with over 40 years of driving experience. He plowed into pedestrians as he left a hotel to attend a family celebration late Monday night.

The accident occurred at 9:27 p.m. at an intersection near Seoul City Hall when a Genesis sedan crashed through a railing and hit people waiting to cross the street. At the time of the incident, the vehicle was driving the wrong way on a one-way street. It collided with two cars after hitting the pedestrians, Chung explained.

Asked about the claim that the driver was involved in the accident after arguing with his wife, who was with him at the time, Chung said such a rumor was “not true.”

While it is currently being eagerly awaited whether the fatal car accident was caused by sudden, unintentional acceleration or careless driving, the police announced that they would question the driver as soon as his physical condition had improved.

The wife, who was in the vehicle with the driver, told police during the first round of questioning that “the brakes were not working.”

Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the same day that it would work with the Korea Police Agency to discuss ways to improve driver’s license aptitude tests for seniors and encourage older people to surrender their licenses, as the number of car accidents involving older drivers is increasing across the country.