(Original title: South Korea’s Tesla car accident death case is about to start a court session, and the “double standard” of safety standards has sparked heated discussions)
News from the Associated Press, 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 high-end apartment in Seoul and caught fire, killing the owner and well-known lawyer Yin Honggen (transliteration) sitting in the back seat, while the surrogate driver passed by. The car window narrowly escaped.
Two years later, although the driver has been emphasizing that “the vehicle is out of control”, he will still face a trial for manslaughter and may face a maximum of 5 years in prison. At the same time, the issue of safety design of Tesla vehicles has also sparked heated discussions again following the case.
Driver: The car moves by itself
The defendant in the case, Choi Wanjong, 61, also suffered a ruptured intestine in that accident and was unable to work afterwards. Being destitute, he can only rely on national housing subsidies, living in a 6.6-square-meter hut with a monthly rent of 350,000 won, and needs to share the bathroom and kitchen with others.
Cui Wanzhong told the media that he is currently suffering from depression as the trial approaches. He said: “When I am awake, I feel abandoned, like drifting alone in the middle of the ocean.”
Seoul prosecutors charged that,Cui Wanzhong stepped on the accelerator when driving into the underground garage, causing the vehicle to reach a top speed of 95 km/h before hitting the wall.Cui Wanzhong categorically denied this statement, emphasizing thatBefore the car suddenly lost control and accelerated, the window glass also went 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 pretrial hearing, the judge said Tesla provided prosecutors with data transmitted by the vehicle prior to the accident and that the defense was waiting for the court to release the data.
Compared with the old topic of “stepping on the gas pedal or braking”, the defense also put forward another defense idea:Tesla’s electronic system failure and the superimposed “Falcon Wing Door” design prevented firefighters from rescuing trapped passengers, which aroused a wider resonance.
South Korea-U.S. trade deal lowers standards?
According to the scene pictures and the investigation report provided by the fire department, the car involved caught fire after hitting the wall, but the rescue operation was “delayed” because the Model X’s electronic door could not be opened. The fire department did not disclose how much time was delayed, and the cause of Yin Honggen’s death was not announced.
According to the live video, the firefighters finally dragged Yin Honggen out by smashing the front windshield, about 25 minutes after receiving the alarm.
(Accident scene, source: MBC)
The fire department stated in its investigation report,The electric door handle on the outside of the Model X cannot be used after the battery is damaged, and the front seats cannot be adjusted for the same reason, resulting in insufficient space 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 sensitive issue:Korea-U.S. FTA exempts Tesla from South Korea’s local car safety rules。
Specifically, South Korean regulations require that at least one door in the front and rear of a vehicle have a mechanical “fail-safe mechanism” that can be opened even if power is lost. However, since Tesla’s annual sales in South Korea are less than 50,000 units, it can only comply with the safety standards of the United States, which happens to be absent.
Tesla is also the only automaker that does not provide data on its on-board safety systems to authorities, according to South Korea’s Transportation Security Administration (TS). TS said that while Tesla was not legally required to provide the data, other foreign and local suppliers had voluntarily provided the data.
South Korean opposition lawmaker Park Shang-hyuk told the media that to some extent Tesla has become a symbol of great innovation, but a series of incidents have aroused concerns among local consumers in South Korea, including the inability of the car door to open after impact and the free trade agreement. exemption. Park Shang-hyuk revealed that TS is cooperating with Tesla to allow Korean car owners to obtain car diagnostic data from October 2023.
The South Korean consumer protection organization revealed in September this year that Tesla has never resolved the “door defect”. Over the past four years, the organization has received 1,870 complaints related to Tesla doors. The organization asked the police to intervene in the investigation this year, but the police said in a letter that “although Tesla’s cars may have violated local safety regulations, the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement has a higher priority.”
In South Korea’s current judicial practice, car owners who dispute the cause of an accident need to bear the burden of proving that the car is defective, and car manufacturers are almost never prosecuted for safety issues.