(Original title: South Korea’s Tesla car crash death case is about to begin a court hearing, and the “double standard” of safety standards has sparked heated discussions)
Associated Press News, November 21 (Edited by Shi Zhengcheng)One night in December 2020, a white Tesla Model X crashed into a wall in the underground garage of a luxury apartment in Seoul and caught fire, killing the owner and well-known lawyer Yin Honggeun (transliteration) sitting in the back seat, while the surrogate driver passed, car window narrowly escaped.
Two years later, despite the driver pointing out that “the vehicle is out of control”, he will still face a manslaughter trial and face a maximum of 5 years in prison. At the same time, the issue of the safety design of Tesla vehicles has also again sparked heated discussions following the case.
Driver: The car moves by itself
The defendant in the case, 61-year-old Choi Wanjong, also suffered a ruptured intestine in that incident and was later unable to work. Being destitute, he can only rely on national subsidies for housing, lives in a 6.6 square meter hut with a monthly rent of 350,000 won, and needs to share a bathroom and kitchen with others.
Cui Wanzhong told the media that he is currently suffering from depression as his trial approaches. She said, “When I’m awake, I feel abandoned, like drifting alone in the middle of the ocean.”
Prosecutors in Seoul charged that,Cui Wanzhong stepped on the accelerator as he entered the underground garage, causing the vehicle to reach a maximum speed of 95km/h before hitting the wall.Cui Wanzhong categorically denied this statement, emphasizing itBefore the car suddenly lost control and accelerated, the window glass also moved up and down uncontrollably。
Statistics show that Cui Wanzhong has more than 20 years of driving experience and has also driven a Tesla car before. During the preliminary hearing, the judge said Tesla provided prosecutors with data transmitted by the vehicle before the crash and that the defense was waiting for the court to release the data.
Compared to the old “press the accelerator pedal or brake” argument, the defense also put forward another defense idea:Tesla’s electronic system failure and overlapping “Falcon Wing Door” design prevented firefighters from rescuing trapped passengers, which caused a wider resonance.
Does South Korea-US trade deal lower standards?
According to images of the scene and the investigation report provided by the fire brigade, the car involved caught fire after hitting the wall, but the rescue operation was “delayed” because the electronic door of the car could not be opened. Model X Firefighters did not disclose how long it was delayed, and Yin Honggen’s cause of death was not announced.
According to live video, firefighters finally dragged Yin Honggen out by breaking her front windshield, about 25 minutes after receiving the alarm.
(Accident scene, source: MBC)
Firefighters stated in their investigation report,The power door handle on the exterior of Model X cannot be used after the battery is damaged and the front seats cannot be adjusted for the same reason, resulting in insufficient room for rescue operations.
Judge Park Won-gyu, who heard the case, said:He plans to subpoena Tesla engineers to testify in court and will consider the safety of the car itself during the trial.
This question also touches on another very delicate topic:The Korea-US free trade agreement exempts Tesla from South Korea’s local automotive safety regulations。
Specifically, South Korean regulations require that at least one door in the front and rear of a vehicle have a mechanical “safety mechanism” that can be opened even in the event of a power failure. However, since Tesla’s annual sales in South Korea are less than 50,000 units, it can only meet US safety standards, which are absent.
Tesla is also the only automaker not providing data about its onboard safety systems to authorities, according to South Korea’s Transportation Security Administration (TS). TS said that while Tesla was not legally obligated to provide the data, other foreign and local suppliers had voluntarily provided the data.
South Korean opposition MP Park Shang-hyuk told the media that to some extent Tesla has become a symbol of great innovation, but a series of incidents have caused concern among local consumers in South Korea, including the inability to open the car door after the impact and the free trade agreement. Park Shang-hyuk revealed that TS is working with Tesla to allow Korean car owners to get the car’s diagnostic data starting October 2023.
The South Korean consumer protection organization revealed in September this year that Tesla has never fixed the “door defect”. Over the past four years, the organization has received 1,870 complaints about Tesla doors. The organization asked police to step into the investigation this year, but police said in a letter that “although Tesla’s cars may have violated local safety regulations, the Korea-US free trade agreement has a higher priority”.
In South Korea’s current judicial practice, car owners who dispute the cause of an accident bear the burden of proving that the car is defective, and automakers are almost never prosecuted for safety concerns.
