A driver in his 60s who struck a pedestrian near a crosswalk and left the scene without checking on the victim has been sentenced to prison.
The Chuncheon District Court sentenced the 69-year-old, identified only by the surname A, to three years in prison on charges of fleeing the scene of a fatal accident under a law on aggravated punishment for specific crimes, legal sources said on the 23rd. Judge Park Dong-wook of the court's third criminal division single-judge bench handed down the ruling that day.
The defendant was indicted on charges of striking a 78-year-old pedestrian while driving a truck on National Highway No. 5 in Owol-ri, Seo-myeon, Chuncheon, at around 5:50 p.m. on Dec. 31 last year, and then fleeing without providing aid.
The investigation found that the defendant was driving at about 40 to 42 kilometers per hour on a road with a 30-kilometer-per-hour speed limit. The pedestrian was severely injured and died about two hours and 50 minutes later of a brain hemorrhage caused by a skull fracture.
In court, the driver said there was awareness that an accident had occurred but claimed to have believed that only a plastic drum placed at a road construction site had been hit.
The court noted that the accident happened near a crosswalk and that streetlights were in place, meaning the driver could easily have spotted the victim by simply examining the scene.
"It is reasonable to conclude that the defendant left the scene without taking any measures to provide aid, even though the defendant recognized, at least with willful indifference, that a person had been struck," Park said.
"The defendant exceeded the speed limit and failed to keep a proper lookout ahead, causing the victim's death, and then fled without taking any action, making the consequences grave," the judge said. "The court also took into account that the bereaved family refused to accept the deposited compensation and petitioned for severe punishment."
