Pregnant woman injured in road rage attack

(123rf)

A man in his 50s is being investigated by local police on suspicion of deliberately driving his car into another vehicle, injuring a pregnant woman, who was a passenger in the other car at the time.

According to the Hwaseong Seobu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, the driver ran his car into the side of another car Saturday. The other driver's pregnant wife and two young children, aged 3 and 4, were in the vehicle at the time.

The female victim, who was 24 weeks pregnant at the time, felt a pain in her abdomen after the incident and was admitted to a hospital. Her current physical condition is unknown.

The suspect had been enraged after the man had cut in front of him, even though the man signaled a lane change with his indicator. The man told a local media outlet that the suspect told him, "You think turning on the indicator is all you need to do?" while cursing and pushing at him.

Driving recklessly with intent to threaten other people, is punishable under the law on special intimidation, special bodily injury on another, or special destruction and damage. The word special in the charges refers to crimes committed via collective force or with the use of a dangerous weapon, which in this case would be the car.

South Korea sees thousands of cases of intimidation while driving each year. Last year's data by the National Police Agency showed that 23,622 cases occurred between 2018 and 2022.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)