13 Dead or Injured in Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway Crash; Police Probe "Cruise Control" Use

Driver reverses statement that "feature was on"
National Forensic Service to analyze event data recorder

Police are investigating whether the driver of a sport utility vehicle (SUV) involved in a crash on the Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway that left 13 people dead or injured was using adaptive cruise control (ACC).

At around 12:55 p.m. on the 12th, five vehicles collided near Jangsu Junction on the southbound lanes of the Daejeon-Tongyeong Expressway in Jangsu County, North Jeolla Province, leaving one person dead and 12 injured. Jeonbuk Fire Headquarters, Yonhap News.

Jangsu Police Station in North Jeolla Province said on October 19 that it is investigating a man in his 40s, identified only as A, on suspicion of causing death or injury under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents.

A is suspected of driving an SUV near Jangsu Junction on the Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway at around 12:55 p.m. on October 12, colliding with a passenger car ahead and leaving two people dead and 11 injured.

Immediately after the crash, A said he had been driving with cruise control switched on, but later changed his statement.

Cruise control is a device that helps maintain a steady speed, but accidents are increasingly occurring when drivers rely on the feature and fail to pay sufficient attention to the road ahead.

Police have sent the event data recorder from A's vehicle to the National Forensic Service to determine whether the cruise control function was active, among other details.

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