A driver accused of towing and operating a large crane with a cargo truck and crashing into a median strip, causing the death of a passenger in a vehicle on the opposite lane, died in another traffic accident.
According to police on the 6th, at about 1:28 a.m. that day, a van driven by A, in his 50s, crashed into a bridge marker near a one-way, single-lane road bridge in Jangan-myeon, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. A, who was alone in the vehicle, died in the accident.
Police confirmed that A, who died, was the driver at the time of the large crane towing accident that occurred in Anseong four days earlier. At about 2:10 p.m. on the 2nd on National Route 38 in Samjuk-myeon, Anseong, a large 60-ton crane connected in a towing method to a cargo truck driven by A crashed into the median strip. It was conveyed that the accident occurred because A failed to sufficiently account for the rear turning radius while making a right turn.
The impact damaged part of the median strip, and the glare shield in the form of a steel plate installed on it bent, reportedly colliding with a Sorento traveling in the opposite direction. In the accident, B, the driver's wife in her 50s who was in the front passenger seat of the Sorento, died.
A reported to police, saying awareness of the situation came about two hours after the accident, and during questioning reportedly said to the effect that "only after checking the load did I realize an accident had occurred." Based on on-site CCTV and the black box of the damaged vehicle, police were examining the circumstances of the accident and whether it constituted a hit-and-run.
However, after A was questioned once as a reference and was awaiting a second round of questioning, A died in a separate accident, and it was conveyed that the criminal procedure related to the Anseong accident will likely conclude with "no right of prosecution."
Police said they will nevertheless continue inspections of road safety and the surrounding environment in connection with the Anseong accident. Confirming that multiple tractors and large crane vehicles were parked near the accident site and that there was also a repair facility, police are investigating whether the location was properly licensed.
They also plan to review whether facility safety management and maintenance were appropriate by the Suwon National Land Management Office, which is responsible for managing the median strip and glare shield.