Taxi driver killed 3 pedestrians at crosswalk but found not guilty in first trial - South Korea

A taxi driver who claimed to have suddenly accelerated after killing three pedestrians at a crosswalk was found not guilty in the first trial. The Gwangju District Court ruled on the 27th that he was indicted on charges of violating the Special Law on Handling Traffic Accidents.
The court announced that it had declared the accused, Mr. A (70), innocent of the charges. Mr. A was driving a taxi while crossing the street at an intersection in Songjeong-dong, Gwangju-si, at around 1:23 pm on October 8, 2023.
He was on trial for allegedly running a red light into an intersection, colliding with a car and then running into a pedestrian crossing, killing three people.
During the investigation, Mr. A claimed that he was unable to control the electric vehicle due to the sudden acceleration phenomenon, but the police
Since there was no sign of a malfunction or any particular defect, the court concluded that the driver was at fault.
Based on information from the vehicle's emergency data recorder (EDR) that was admitted into court evidence
The taxi's speed was 37 km/h five seconds before the accident, but increased to 88 km/h at the time of the collision.
In addition, the engine RPM was between 2900 and 3000 5 seconds before the accident.
It suddenly increased to 3300 3 seconds ago, 4500 2 seconds ago, 6000 1 second ago, and 6900 0 seconds ago. The displacement of the accelerator pedal was 12% 5 seconds ago, but it was 1.5 seconds before and 0.5 seconds before.
The car reached 99%, which is considered "full throttle," and was 67% at 0 seconds. The court ruled that "the car's speed and engine RPMs increased abnormally three seconds before the accident occurred, but the driver had been driving the taxi for a long period of time.
"It is unlikely that the defendant, who was driving, mistakenly pressed the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal for more than three seconds," he said. "The speed was between 37 and 40 kilometers per hour from five seconds before the accident to three seconds before it occurred.
The police also determined that, "At the time, a passenger said, 'Before the accident occurred, the exhaust noise suddenly became louder, and the speed increased, and the car
Considering the fact that the driver testified that he thought the car was suddenly accelerating because it seemed to be lurching forward, it is difficult to conclude that the accident was caused by the defendant's negligence, and there is no evidence to support this.
Ta.