A bus with its front windshield severely damaged swerves across the road before coming to a stop.
The incident occurred on March 18 near the Poseung Junction on the Seohaean Expressway, when a rear wheel detached from a 4.5-ton cargo truck and smashed into an intercity bus traveling in the opposite direction.
The flying wheel pierced the front glass of the bus. Despite suffering serious injuries, the bus driver in his 50s managed to hold onto the steering wheel until the end, preventing a secondary accident.
However, the severely injured bus driver was rushed to the hospital in cardiac arrest while receiving CPR and ultimately passed away. Three passengers on the bus were also injured by flying glass shards.
Police investigations revealed that the accident was a man-made disaster that could have been sufficiently prevented beforehand.
According to an appraisal by the National Forensic Service, the cause of the accident was severe aging and wear at the connection points between the cargo truck wheel, bolts, and nuts.
The truck driver in his 70s, surnamed A, had already received warnings from a repair shop late last year that the parts required repairs due to abnormalities.
Despite receiving these warnings, he continued to drive without getting separate repairs done, replacing only the tires.
During police questioning, driver A stated to the effect that "when visually inspecting it normally, I did not notice any major signs of trouble, and if there was an issue, I reported it to the vehicle owner."
The representative of the transport company, who was responsible for covering repair costs, also delayed maintenance even after receiving a report from A that there were issues with the parts.
B reportedly claimed during police questioning, "I did not hear that it immediately affected operations, so I intended to get it repaired when I had some breathing room."
The Gyeonggi Pyeongtaek Police Station held driver A and vehicle owner B accountable for neglecting their maintenance duties despite knowing about the defects in advance, forwarding them to the prosecutors office on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents and professional negligence resulting in death and injury, respectively.
Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Kim Gi-hyeon | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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