The court rejects the lawsuit about the death of the 12-year-old in the alleged unintentional acceleration

The family of a 12-year-old boy who died in an accident in Gangewon, Gangwon, lost their complaint against the KG mobility of the automotive manufacturers KG on Tuesday, since the sudden unintentional acceleration on Tuesday claimed that the court decided that there was no indication of a lack of vehicle.
The district court of Chuscheon rejected the 920 million Won (650,000 US dollars) claim against KG Mobility, formerly Ssangyong Motor.
The court rejected the plaintiff's claim that a defect in the ECU software (Electronic Control Unit) caused unintentional acceleration and that the automatic emergency brake system was not activated during the quick acceleration.
“It was difficult to conclude that the incident was caused by a technical defect,” said the judgment. “It seems that the driver – the boy's grandmother – confused the accelerator pedal for the brake pedal.”
The case included Lee Do-Hyun's death, which was in the passenger seat, when the vehicle crashed.
The family of the late boy argued that it was “impossible that the driver confused the accelerator for the brake pedal during the approximately 30-second episode of the sudden acceleration” and added that “this was a typical case of a sudden, unintentional acceleration, which was caused by a defect in the ECU software for electronic control units ECU software.”
The KG mobility countered with data from the event data recorder (EDR), which showed an input with full throttle input during the crash. The company also cited a state investigation that supported the pedal error theory.
The two sides involved a longer legal dispute for over two and a half years, whereby the process of the credibility of the EDR data, an audio analysis of Black boxing film material, a reconstruction of the crash by driving tests on site and experts on ECU software examined-a first in Korean legal proceedings for this type of case.
While most sudden acceleration claims ended with knowledge of the driver's error, this case was widespread after the recording of the boy's voice: “Why doesn't that work, do-hyun?” During the incident, it was publicly believed and believed that the car may not work.
Public sympathy for the family as petitions, in which the grandmother asked for withdrawal, flocked from gang show and across the country.
The police had previously issued criminal charges against the driver, citing restrictions in the analysis of the National Forensic Service, which did not find a mechanical mistake, but recognized the possibility of a misuse of pedal.
Lee Sang-Hoon, the boy's father, said after the decision on Tuesday that he would appeal immediately.

Translated from the Joongang Ilbo with generative AI and edited by Korea Joongang Daily Staff.
By Lee Ji-Young [[email protected]]