A child dragged away with his clothes caught in a car door... There was no 'confirmation of getting off' by the driver

▲ The above picture is not directly related to the content of the article.

A children's center van driver who left the scene after injuring a child while driving was sentenced to a fine.

Yesterday (3rd), the 11th criminal division of the Daegu District Court (Judge Hwang Hyeong-joo) sentenced a 50-year-old driver A (50) who was indicted on the charge of fleeing under the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes a fine of 5 million won.

On November 29, last year, while getting off at the children's protection zone on one side road in downtown Daegu, Mr. A wore sheep B (8) with clothes on the car door and drove about 10m.

At that time, Mr. A had Ms. B get out of the car by herself, and she did not check whether Ms. B had completely got off until just before departure.

It is also said that he left the scene without taking any action, such as taking the injured Miss B to the hospital or contacting the guardian.

In this accident, Miss B was injured for two weeks in the front.

After that, Mr. A was charged with a fine of 7 million won and requested a formal trial.

The court said, "It seems that the victim and the parents suffered a great psychological shock," but "The amount of the fine set in the summary order was slightly reduced in consideration of the fact that the accused admits and reflects on his mistake and that the injury to the victim is relatively minor. I did,” he explained, explaining the reason for the sentencing.

Enlarging an image

▲ Report screen at the time of the bus accident at the Busan daycare center

Previously, a 3-year-old child was seriously injured in a car accident in Busan in July last year, and in January, an elementary school student in Jeju was dragged to death with his clothes caught in the school car door.

All of these are the result of the driver's inability to properly check whether children are getting on and off safely.

According to the current law, a child's school bus must be accompanied by a parent or guardian, and if there is no guardian to help the child get on or off the bus at facilities such as the Early Childhood Education Promotion Agency, an alternative school, or a foreign school, the driver is required to check whether the child gets on or off.

In addition, it is stipulated to operate a device that can check whether the vehicle is getting on or off.

If the operator violates the duty of accompanying guardians, a fine of not more than 300,000 won or detention, and a school bus driver with a child who fails to fulfill the duty of confirmation will be punished by a fine of not more than 200,000 won, detention or a fine.

Nevertheless, similar accidents continue to occur and the safety of children is threatened.

In this regard, some point out that the qualifications for school vehicle drivers should be strengthened, and the blunt punishment that stays in the fine for negligence even if the applicable law should be strengthened should be strengthened.