By kindlylives If a person took a taxi at night and found that the driver drove in the other direction without giving any explanation, the driver would not be able to find the driver.
Anyone would be afraid of such a situation.
About three years ago, a 20-year-old female university student in Pohang City, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea, encountered a similar situation when she took a taxi at night.
(screenshot of Korean media report)
It happened on Friday, March 4th, 2022, around 8:45 p. m.
A female college student named C got into a taxi driven by A at Pohang Station and asked the other party to send her to her university dormitory.
Driver A was already in his 80s and had poor hearing. He usually wore hearing aids, but he didn’t wear them at that time, so he confirmed his destination with the passengers again before departure.
“To S University’s dormitory,” said C, a female university student, as she closed the taxi door.
Driver A misheard. He thought they were going to H University, so he confirmed with the girl.” H University dormitory?”
However, she didn’t know if she had misheard it or something else, but the female college student C answered,”Yes.”
(Korean taxi)
From the taxi driver’s point of view, since he had already confirmed with the passenger, he would naturally go to H University.
The female college student, C, also noticed that the taxi was driving in the wrong direction and was not heading to the destination she mentioned.
“Sir, is this the correct route?” Mr. C asked the driver.
However, due to Driver A’s poor hearing, he did not notice the passenger’s inquiry, so he did not respond.
Female college student C began to feel afraid and sent a message to her boyfriend: ” The taxi is going to a strange place. I’m afraid. What should I do?”
At that time, her boyfriend did not reply to her message. C was alone in the car and did not know what to do.
(screenshot of Korean media report)
After the taxi entered the car lane, it sped at a top speed of about 109 km/h for about two minutes, violating the speed limit of 80 km/h. The navigation in the car issued warnings several times.
“Sir, can you put me down?” The female university student asked again.
However, due to noise and hearing problems, Driver A still did not respond.
This time, the female university student C was completely flustered.
She mistakenly thought that she had been kidnapped and opened the back door of the taxi.
Driver A asked in panic,”What’s going on?” After slowing down the car, the female university student C jumped out of the car.
Then, Mr. C was hit and killed by an SUV coming from behind.
(screenshot of Korean media report)
After the tragedy, a hearing test showed that Driver A had senile hearing loss.
Mr. A had hearing loss due to old age, and because the surrounding environment was too noisy, he did not hear passenger C’s request to get off.
According to the prosecutor’s office, taxi driver A did not use the turn signal to change lanes on the solid line, did not confirm the condition of passenger C, did not pay attention to C’s request due to hearing loss, and drove recklessly such as speeding, which caused C’s death due to his negligence.
The driver of the SUV, B, was also charged for failing to pay attention to the front and maintain a safe distance.
(screenshot of Korean media report)
However, the court of first instance ruled that the taxi driver A was not guilty.
The court said,”
” A mistook the destination for another university dormitory and drove a taxi along the normal road to the university dormitory.”
” A couldn’t have expected passenger C to jump out of a taxi that was traveling at high speed due to shock.”
The court also found the SUV driver, B, not guilty.
“It’s hard to predict that someone will jump out of the car in front.”
“The accident happened at night, and there were no street lights around. It seemed that it was difficult for B to find the victim lying on the road early and avoid the accident.”
(screenshot of Korean media report)
The prosecutor refused to accept the acquittal and filed an appeal.” If the driver had been careful, the accident could have been avoided.”
However, the verdict of the second trial was the same. The two drivers were found not guilty.
The court of second instance also admitted that taxi driver A had poor hearing and did not wear a hearing aid, which ultimately aggravated passenger C’s anxiety.
However, the court ruled that A did not beat or threaten the female college student C, so it was difficult to foresee that C would open the door and jump out of the car.
In this tragedy, a taxi driver who was already over 80 years old and deaf should not be driving on the road with such a physical condition.
She couldn’t even hear the shouting in the car, causing the female university student to jump out of the car in panic. How ridiculous!