Fault Ratio for Unprotected Left Turns Increased... Automobile Accident Fault Standards Revised

Revision of Fault Ratio Standards Reflecting Court Precedents
Japanese-Style Terms Like "Road Shoulder" Also Replaced

The proportion of fault assigned to vehicles making unprotected left turns will increase, and overall fault ratios in car accidents will be revised.

On June 29, the General Insurance Association of Korea announced that it had revised the standards for determining fault ratios in automobile accidents. The classification system for these standards has been reorganized to match the structure used in the court’s Practical Handbook on Compensation for Damages (Comparative Negligence). Standards with low utilization rates or a high potential for disputes have been restructured, and additional explanations and case precedents have been supplemented for each criterion.

For example, Japanese-style Sino-Korean terms such as “serpentine walking,” “zigzag walking,” “road shoulder,” “close distance,” and “already left turn” will be replaced with more intuitive terms like “L-shaped walking,” “shoulder,” “short distance,” and “immediately after completing a left turn.”

Additionally, the revised standards will reflect expert opinions from the fields of traffic, law, and insurance, as well as data from the Fault Ratio Dispute Review Committee, analyses of case law trends, amendments to the Road Traffic Act, and changes in the traffic environment.

Accidents involving unprotected left turns are a representative example. In cases where a vehicle makes an unprotected left turn during a green straight signal, the basic fault ratio assigned to the left-turning vehicle has been raised from 80% to 90% to reflect recent court precedents. In some cases, this ratio can be adjusted up to 100%.

For simultaneous right-turn collisions at intersections, the fault ratio for the vehicle making the inner turn has been adjusted from 30% to 40%, also reflecting court precedent trends.

The General Insurance Association of Korea plans to post the revised “Standards for Determining Fault Ratios in Automobile Accidents” on the Fault Ratio Information Portal and distribute them to insurance companies, mutual aid associations, and major courts. A representative from the association stated, “The revision of the automobile accident fault ratio standards will help accident parties better understand their share of fault and facilitate smoother settlements. Moving forward, we will continue our efforts to prevent disputes related to traffic accidents and protect consumer rights by preparing fault ratio standards for new modes of transportation, such as trams, as they are introduced.”

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