Tesla Accident in Hannam-dong Concluded as 'Driver's Fault'

On December 10th last year, a Tesla passenger car crashed into a wall in an underground parking lot of an apartment in Seoul, causing a fire that resulted in one death and two injuries.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] The Tesla Model X traffic accident that occurred last year at an apartment in Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, was concluded by the prosecution to have been caused by the inexperienced operation of the driver at the time, and the case has been sent to trial.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seung-eon Kim) announced on the 16th that the suspect, driver Choi (60), was indicted without detention on charges of violating the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling (causing death).

On December 9th last year, at around 9:43 p.m., Choi was driving a Tesla Model X Long Range vehicle in the underground parking lot of an apartment in Hannam-dong when he crashed into a parking lot wall. The vehicle owner, Yoon (then 60 years old), who was in the front passenger seat at the time, died at around 10:09 p.m. the same day after a fire broke out in the lithium battery following the collision.

The prosecution confirmed, based on the SD card installed in the accident vehicle, the telematics (a vehicle mobile communication service technology combining wireless communication and GPS) driving records sent to Tesla immediately after the collision, and CCTV footage, that Choi continued to press the accelerator pedal until just before the vehicle crashed, recognizing negligence.

Choi consistently claimed from immediately after the accident that "the car suddenly became uncontrollable and crashed," effectively asserting sudden unintended acceleration. However, the police, based on the National Forensic Service's inspection results showing no mechanical defects and the telematics driving information examination, found Choi guilty and transferred the case in April.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.