60s Driver Without License Causes Fatal Accident, Claims "My Daughter Did It," Sent to Prosecution

No Victim Relief Measures, Death Occurs During Hospital Transfer

The image shows police conducting a drunk driving crackdown and is unrelated to the content of the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

A man in his 60s who attempted to switch drivers after causing a traffic accident while driving without a license has been referred to the prosecution.

On the 4th, Gangneung Police Station in Gangwon Province announced that they had sent Mr. A (61) to the prosecution without detention on charges of hit-and-run causing death under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, unlicensed driving under the Road Traffic Act, aiding and abetting concealment of a criminal, and violation of the Special Act on Prevention of Insurance Fraud. Mr. A is accused of hitting and killing Mr. B (78), who was riding a motorcycle, while driving a Tucson passenger car in Sinseok-dong, Gangneung City, at around 10:30 a.m. on January 9.

At the time, Mr. A did not provide emergency measures such as calling 119. Instead, he put the dying Mr. B into his vehicle, contacted his daughter to come to the scene, and then had his daughter take the wheel to head to the hospital. However, Mr. B had already missed the golden hour and passed away. Mr. A’s wrongdoing did not end there. He even claimed that "his daughter was driving." Mr. A, whose license had been revoked due to a prior drunk driving offense, deceived the victim’s family, the police, and the insurance company by saying his daughter was the driver. However, the police found this claim suspicious and, after analyzing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and other evidence, confirmed that Mr. A was the driver. When the police presented the evidence and questioned Mr. A, he finally admitted to the crime.

The police applied for an arrest warrant for Mr. A, but the court dismissed it, judging there was no risk of evidence tampering or flight, so the investigation continued without detention, and the case was recently forwarded to the prosecution. Regarding the crime of concealment, the daughter was not charged based on the law that prohibits punishment if a relative or cohabiting family member conceals a criminal. The family of Mr. B said, "The head of a family passed away tragically, and the bereaved family is suffering greatly, but the perpetrator has not even been detained, which is unfair," and emphasized, "We ask for the perpetrator to be detained during the investigation and severely punished."

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