제 23 호 A Car’s Tragedy: a Sudden Acceleration Accident
Kicker: Society
A Car’s Tragedy: a Sudden Acceleration Accident
By Su-Young Kim, Editor /kimsuyoung1342@gmail.com
Recently, there has been a lot of news about the accidents related to the sudden acceleration of the cars. In a situation where drivers are embarrassed and difficult to deal with, victims continue to hear a lot of sad news. On the other hand, the perpetrator must prove himself that the cause of the accident is the sudden acceleration of the car. Therefore, let's find out how these sudden acceleration accidents occur, why the perpetrator has no choice but to prove the accident, and what you need to know to prevent an accident.
On July 1, at 9 p.m., a car driven by a man in his 60s broke into the sidewalk in front of Seoul City Hall, causing several casualties. In addition, on December 6, 2022, a 68-year-old woman's vehicle was accelerating on a road in Gangneung, Gangwon-do, and collided with a vehicle, hit the boundary stone of the road, and crashed into an underground passageway. The driver was seriously injured and booked for violating the Special Act on Traffic Accidents, and the driver's grandchild lost consciousness and was taken to the hospital, but eventually died. What these incidents have in common is that both of drivers insisted that they were caused by the sudden acceleration of the vehicle. Therefore, anxiety about sudden acceleration of vehicles is growing, and on average, about 30 cases are reported as suspected of sudden acceleration every year, but so far, no vehicle acceleration has been recognized in Korea. As a result of analyzing the affected vehicles by oil type, diesel and gasoline were the most common with 78 and 73, respectively. Next came 33 electric vehicles, 26 LPGs, 33 hybrids, and 1 hydrogen. In the case of electric and hybrid vehicles, the number of reports also increased as the supply of vehicles increased.
Then, what is the cause of the sudden acceleration of the car? First, there is a possibility of defects in ECU parts, which are electronic devices that control automobiles. In 2022, the U.S. ordered the recall of its 21-year-old Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle model because of unintended acceleration or deceleration symptoms. Due to a software defect in the powertrain control module (PCM) electronic component, Ford has solved the problem by updating the software. Given this, it would be difficult to say that electronic equipment related to vehicle control manufactured by manufacturers is 100% reliable equipment. Secondly, there is a possibility that electronic equipment may malfunction due to moisture. Winter weather is fatal, and internal condensation is likely to occur due to the warm temperature of the engine and cold weather. Third, it is possible that it is the battery problem of the car. If the battery itself is defective, it causes problems such as swelling or not uniformly supplying power. Unfortunately, however, the reality is that the exact cause of the sudden acceleration of vehicles is unknown.
Even if it is reported as a suspected sudden acceleration accident, the verification process is difficult and the burden of proof is not on the manufacturer's side, so there are many difficulties in relieving consumers. As consumer anxiety rose due to such accidents, the national assembly proposed an "Amendment to the Product Liability Act" that required manufacturers to prove that there were no vehicle defects in the event of a suspected car sudden acceleration, but it did not proceed. Toyota is said to be the only U.S. case that has been recognized for sudden acceleration overseas. In the case of the United States, manufacturers must prove that there are no vehicle defects during the trial, and if they fail to do so, they must compensate consumers. In 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice agreed to close the investigation under the Deferred Action Agreement (DPA) on the condition that Toyota pay a $200 million fine. However, even at that time, the cause of the sudden acceleration was not clearly identified. As the driver has to prove the sudden acceleration of the vehicle, the installation of a black box with a pedal that takes pictures of the driver's foot is spreading like a trend. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said it plans to recommend domestic and foreign automakers to install pedal black boxes, but car manufacturers said it is difficult to analyze the cause of the accident with accident recorders and change the design of cars for installation. Therefore, it will be difficult to mandate the installation of the pedal black box right away, but it would be good if the supply gradually expanded, and it would be proved that the suspected sudden unintended acceleration was the manufacturer's responsibility or the driver's fault.
picture1https://www.hani.co.kr/arti/economy/car/1076741.html
Many people seem to be worried and anxious because of the recent surge in suspected automobile acceleration. For people to drive safely without feeling uncomfortable, I hope the bill related to sudden acceleration will be revised or countermeasures will be prepared as soon as possible.
Sources: https://n.news.naver.com/article/024/0000090167?sid=102
https://www.yes-doit.com/2023/10/Causes-and-countermeasures-for-sudden-car-acceleration-accidents.html
https://n.news.naver.com/article/422/0000673530?sid=102
