The police have reportedly secured a statement regarding the car crash at Kkaebi Market in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, indicating that 'the driver has been diagnosed with dementia.' The driver's license was renewed in Sep. 2022.
Yangcheon Police Station in Seoul, on the 1st, investigated the driver, a man in his 70s, identified as Mr. A, and secured a statement to the effect that Mr. A was diagnosed with dementia about two years ago and had taken medication. However, Mr. A did not take medication on the day of the accident or recently.
Mr. A holds a Class 1 regular license. It is reported that he renewed his license after a competency test in Sep. 2022. The police have booked Mr. A on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents (fatal).
The day before, Mr. A drove a 2007 model Equus car, heading straight from Yangdong Middle School in Yangcheon-gu towards Mokdong Kkaebi Market, when he accelerated past a bus and crashed into the market. The vehicle stopped after hitting a pedestrian and a store sign. The accident resulted in the death of a man in his 40s and injured 12 others.
In a police investigation, Mr. A indicated, 'I was worried about the car battery draining because it had been parked for a long time, so I took it out after a long while. I avoided the bus ahead and accelerated, but when I stepped on the brake in front of the market stall, my memory became unclear,' he stated. He reportedly did not claim sudden unintended acceleration. The police analyzed surrounding closed-circuit (CC) TV footage and found that the rear brakes of the vehicle functioned normally.