At 3:50 pm on the 14th, when the spring sun was warm, Dangjinyeongdeok Expressway in North Chungcheong Province.

A 25-ton trailer driven by a man in his 60s sees the car in front of him slowing down and changes lanes.

At that moment, a 13-ton steel coil above the trailer fell into the second lane on the right and hit the roof of the SUV where it was located.

Rescuers rushed to the accident site, but an 8-year-old girl in the back seat of the SUV died.

The driver's mother, who was seriously injured without knowing the safety of her daughter, is currently receiving treatment after surgery.

Just the fact that they were driving next to the trailer at the time of the accident was the cause of the tragedy for this family.



Low-profit 'coil-only trailer'

A donut-shaped steel coil that can fit two large iron plates is considered an essential material for industries such as automobiles. Some are so huge that they weigh up to 20 tons. No matter how careful driving is, it has long been regarded as a 'bomb' on the road as accidents continue to occur when a huge coil falls when braking or turning a curve. But even after this accident, there were many self-helpful voices online saying, "There will be another accident like this in Korea." In the meantime, an overseas coil exclusive trailer uploaded by a netizen caught my eye. Unlike the flat trailer where the accident occurred, the structure was grooved so that only coils could be safely loaded. Even with sudden braking, the risk of being pulled forward was low and the center of gravity was low, making it relatively resistant to shaking. Is there such a car in Korea? Even if I searched a used truck sales site, it was difficult to find it even if I contacted related organizations and special vehicle manufacturers. There was an economic logic behind the scarcity of dedicated trailers.



The truck owner receives orders for the cargo to be transported on a daily basis.

It is a structure in which you go to the 'shipper' who leaves the goods on a set date, load the goods, transport them, and receive money.

If the shipper does not find it, there is no income.

That's why 'flat' trailers with a lot of 'work', which can carry a variety of loads, are common.

Coil-only trailer driver A said, "I chose a coil-only trailer for safety reasons, but it is so rare that there are only a few in Chungcheongnam-do." He said, "Everyone tries not to buy it because the profitability is low."

An official from the Cargo Coalition pointed out, "The freight rates have been getting lower in the meantime," and "There are people who will choose if they have enough income to transport only coils, but in the current freight situation, they are not popular.

From the point of view of logistics companies, coil-only trailers were not a priority.

An official from a large domestic logistics company said, "We do not have to choose a dedicated trailer first, because the coil can be loaded even on a flat trailer."

While prioritizing 'speed' and 'fare', and thus being ignored by the market, orders for exclusive trailers were cut off.

“It has been several years since we received an order for a trailer for coils,” said a salesperson at a large domestic special vehicle company. “If we don’t produce it, there will be no other place that makes it.”



"Fix it well with wedges"...

Coil loading standard is 'one sentence'

Still, I thought it would be okay if I fixed it properly, but the loading regulations were very lax. There is only one sentence pertaining to coils in the 'standards for preventing departure of loaded cargo' specified in the Enforcement Regulations of the Freight Vehicle Transportation Business Act. 'In order to prevent the coil from slipping, rolling, tilting, etc., it must be secured using a steel structure or a wedge.' There are no specific guidelines on how many chains to use for each weight of the coil, what size and what material the pedestal should be made of. An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained, "It is a guideline to apply enough and to bond well." The load that can be endured depends on the type and size of the truck and the size of the coil, but the truck drivers fixed the coil with two chains of iron. The coil pedestal we saw at the interview site had different materials, such as wood and rubber.




When asked if this standard is really all, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport explained that it specified the loading standards for each cargo through its own 'Card News'.

However, regarding the coil, all that was said was 'Pass the cylinder over the parallel anchor point and fix it with a strap' and 'Fix the strap at 45 degrees or less'.

The Korea Transportation Safety Authority, an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, had a similar manual, but even this was produced 8 years ago, and it did not appear on the website at all, so I could only check it after receiving a separate document from the person in charge.

Kim Pil-su, a professor of automobiles at Daelim University, said, "The manuals available now are only assorted to the extent that the relevant organizations seem to evade responsibility." "In Japan, depending on the shape and characteristics of the cargo, the minimum thickness of the chain to be fixed is regulated. He is detailed enough to do that.”


Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport "There is no plan to prepare guidelines by weight"

The aunt of the child who died three days after the accident on the Dangjinyeongdeok Expressway filed a petition to the Blue House to strengthen related laws, saying, "I hope the child who left without even closing his eyes goes to a better place." More than 24,000 people, outraged by the accident, hit the Agree button. However, for the time being, "it's best to just avoid it" seems likely to be the correct answer. An official from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said, "After the accident, we are considering internal improvement measures." If the standards for fixing the load are violated, the transport permit is canceled or a fine of not more than 10 million won is imposed (Articles 19 and 70 of the Freight Vehicle Transportation Business Act), but none of the site and those who made the regulations confidently know how to fix it. That's hard to answer. How long should safety on the road be left to 'luck'? A heavy and serious reflection from the authorities is urgently needed. 



▶ The 13-ton coil fell and hit the van... 9-year-old child dies