"Where Are You Going?" Informal Taxi Driver, Sudden Start and Injury Sentenced to Prison with Probation

Argument with a 20s customer over informal speech
60s taxi driver abruptly departs without letting them in
Customer leaning on taxi suffers 3-week injury

A taxi driver in his 60s was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial for suddenly accelerating his vehicle and injuring a passenger in his 20s after an argument over the driver’s use of informal language.

The photo is unrelated to the article content. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

According to the legal community on the 6th, Judge Park Hye-jung of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 19 recently sentenced taxi driver A (65, male), who was indicted on charges of special injury, to 8 months in prison with a 2-year suspension, stating, "He caused injury to the victim while using the taxi, and the victim suffered physical pain."

Earlier, at around 5 a.m. on March 11, A got into an argument with B (24, male), who hailed the taxi by waving his hand on a road in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. After A stopped the car and asked, "Where are you going?" B, without getting into the car, demanded an apology for the informal language used. Angered, A cursed and turned the taxi’s steering wheel to start driving abruptly, during which B fell to the ground and sustained injuries requiring three weeks of medical treatment. The prosecution indicted A, stating, "He injured the victim with a dangerous object, the automobile."

A denied the charges. In court, he argued, "The taxi started moving after confirming that the victim had taken his hand off the passenger seat side. I did not intentionally cause injury."

The first trial court did not accept this claim. Judge Park pointed out, "The victim testified that he was holding a cellphone, had his right hand inside the window, and was holding the passenger door with his left hand. CCTV footage shows that when the taxi suddenly moved to the left, the victim immediately fell. The victim’s intoxicated hand was inside the taxi window, so when the vehicle started abruptly, the victim could have hit the window or fallen and been injured. The defendant could not have been unaware of this."

However, the judge added, "The defendant explained to the victim that it was his shift change time, but the intoxicated victim kept provoking him. The defendant committed the act impulsively in this process." The fact that B, who received 8 million won in settlement, did not wish for A’s punishment was also taken into consideration.

Since neither A nor the prosecution appealed, the first trial verdict was finalized as is.

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