"I Was in the Passenger Seat, but My Left Arm Is Injured?"... Driver Switch Uncovered by Prosecution Investigation

A woman in her 20s has been put on trial for causing an unlicensed traffic accident and then having her boyfriend in the passenger seat take the blame as the driver.

The Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office (led by Senior Prosecutor Lee Kyung-seok) announced on September 2 that it had indicted A (23, female) the previous day on charges including instigating the escape of a criminal and violating the Road Traffic Act.

A is accused of driving without a license in July 2024, crashing into another vehicle, and then asking her boyfriend B (25), who was sitting next to her, to falsely confess, saying, "Please say you were driving instead."

She even testified in court to the effect that B, rather than herself, was driving the car when the accident occurred.

However, the assigned prosecutor verified that the actual driver of the accident vehicle was A, not B, based on emergency rescue logs and other records written by 119 paramedics who responded to the scene at the time.

Normally, when an impact is applied to a vehicle during a crash, it is natural for the driver to sustain injuries by hitting their left shoulder and arm against the car body. Despite this, A, who had injured her left arm, testified that she had "only been sitting in the passenger seat."

When her crime was exposed through the prosecution's investigation which caught her perjury, A went on the run for several months, avoiding contact with investigative authorities.

Even after being arrested by the prosecution, she denied the crime with implausible statements, claiming, "I was sitting in the driver's seat, but my boyfriend was the one holding the steering wheel."

An official from the prosecution said, "During B's trial, A's testimony seemed suspicious, so we re-examined the accident records and confirmed who actually drove the vehicle," adding, "We will do our best to maintain the indictment so that the defendant receives a sentence commensurate with her criminal responsibility."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.