◀ anchor ▶
An elementary school student who was crossing the road at an intersection inside the child protection area was hit by a vehicle turning right and lost his life.
To prevent such accidents, right-turning vehicles have been forced to stop unconditionally since last July, but accidents still happen one after the other.
Reporter Jung-seok Chung covered the story.
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A flower is placed at an intersection near an elementary school in Changnyeong, Gyeongnam.
Yesterday at around 3:10 pm, a third grade elementary school student on his way home from school had an accident while crossing the railroad crossing.
He was hit by an imported SUV while turning right at an intersection with no traffic lights, and the student was eventually killed.
[교통사고 목격자]
“There should be traffic lights at the intersection. There are no traffic lights, so if you’re busy (driving), you can’t yield yet.”
The crash site is a child protection area where vehicles turning right must stop first, with or without traffic lights or pedestrians, to protect pedestrians.
However, the driver in his 60s is known to have stated, “At the time, driving at a speed of 5-10 km/h turning right, I looked to the left to see if a car was coming in, and then went on without seeing the child on the right.”
On the 20th of last month, a woman in her 60s was hit and killed by a large truck turning right at an intersection in Changwon.
This lorry also breached the duty to stop in front of the intersection.
Since the temporary suspension of right-turn vehicles was implemented in July as drivers’ duty to protect pedestrians was strengthened, over 3,300 right-turn traffic accidents occurred and 22 people died.
Although it has decreased compared to the same period last year, around one person is still killed by a vehicle turning right every four days.
[동상준/경남경찰청 교통사고조사계장]
“If there is a traffic accident when turning right, it can be a serious negligence accident in 12 clauses in violation of the protection of the traffic signal cross.”
Police plan to step up crackdowns on ‘right turn pauses’ while increasing publicity for pedestrian protection.
This is MBC News Jeong Jeong-seok.
Video comment: Kang Gun-gu (Gyeongnam)
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