Almost a Disaster... Woman Racing Through the Middle of Gyeongbu Expressway

Sudden Vehicle Stop Chaos for 1 Hour
No Criminal Charges Due to Mental Illness

A woman disrupted traffic by weaving through lanes on the Gyeongbu Expressway, where cars were speeding, for an hour. She was safely rescued with the help of police and highway corporation staff, but reportedly could not properly explain the circumstances of the incident due to suffering from a mental illness.

According to the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency Highway Patrol Unit on the 10th, a report was received around 9:30 a.m. the previous day that a woman was wandering along the shoulder of the Gyeongbu Expressway. Shortly after, the woman climbed onto the road near Anseong IC heading toward Seoul on the Gyeongbu Expressway and raced across lanes on the highway.

A woman running above the Gyeongbu Expressway [Photo by SBS]

Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage released by SBS shows the woman dangerously running directly from lane 4 to lane 1 on the highway. This caused vehicles on the highway to brake suddenly and slow down, resulting in congestion in the area, but fortunately, no casualties occurred.

The highway patrol and highway corporation staff were able to safely rescue the woman within an hour of receiving the report. Due to her mental illness, she could not properly state the reason for getting onto the highway. The police protected her at a nearby police substation and handed her over to her family. She was later admitted to the hospital on an emergency basis. The police did not take separate criminal action against her, considering her mental condition as a mitigating factor.

Earlier in February, an elderly person in their 80s with dementia entered the Gyeongbu Expressway riding a bicycle and was struck by an express bus, resulting in death. On the day of the accident, the elderly person was rescued by police who responded to a report after attempting to enter the highway while pushing the bicycle and was handed over to family, but re-entered the highway 40 minutes later and ultimately suffered the fatal accident.

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