The court sentenced a city bus driver to six years in prison for hitting and killing 8-year-old elementary school student Cho Eun-gyeol while turning right at a traffic light in a children’s protection zone.
He stated, “There is a need to sound a wake-up call to society with severe punishment commensurate with the guilt.”
Reporter Kang Chang-gu reports.
[Reporter]
A city bus turns right in front of a crosswalk, ignoring the stop sign.
At that moment, a young elementary school student who was crossing an intersection was hit by a bus and fell to the ground.
This is the accident scene of 8-year-old Jo Eun-gyeol, who died at a crosswalk at an먹튀검증 intersection in Homaesil-dong, Suwon, last May.
Even though the accident site was a child protection zone and the right turn signal was red and the front pedestrian signal was blue, the bus turned right and caused the accident.
The court sentenced a bus driver who caused a fatal accident while turning right against a signal to six years in prison.
The court said, “Even after knowing that the accident site was a children’s protection area and that elementary school students frequently pass by, they did not fulfill their duty of protection by temporarily stopping,” and sentenced, “There is a need to sound an alarm in society with severe punishment commensurate with the guilt.” The reason was stated.
Before pronouncing the verdict, the court emphasized that this case was different from an ordinary traffic accident, but also stated that the defendant was a negligent offender, not an intentional offender, and that the sentence was taken by taking into account sentencing in similar cases.
However, Jo’s parents and other bereaved family members wept immediately after the verdict and expressed dissatisfaction with the sentence.
After the accident, Suwon City changed the color of the city’s major crosswalks and sidewalks from white to yellow to make them easier for drivers to identify, creating a so-called yellow carpet.
Also, the vehicle stop line was set back in the last right turn lane by one car length compared to the regular lane, but it is pointed out that this was an afterthought.