[News Today] Flying Debris, Hidden Danger

[LEAD]
Flying objects on expressways continue to cause sudden accidents. Many are fatal, but tracking the liable vehicle is tough, making compensation even more difficult.

[REPORT]
A piece of metal flies over from the other side of the central divide on the expressway toward a passenger vehicle.

Fragments of shattered windshield fell onto the driver seat.

Lee Mun-han / Driver's Husband
My wife, who was driving, still can't drive on the innermost lane on the expressway. She says she's too scared. She'd ask me to drive on the expressway.

They reported the accident to the police but authorities still haven't caught the vehicle that caused the accident.

The accident wasn't recorded on nearby surveillance cameras, making it difficult to identify the liable vehicle.

In the past five years, on average about fifty accidents per year were caused by objects falling from other vehicles on the expressway.

One out of four such accidents ended in fatality, double the fatality rate of other traffic accidents.

But it's not easy to receive damage compensation.

Without a video record of the accident, it's hard to prove liability even if the vehicle that caused the accident is found.

Accident victims can ask the Korea Expressway Corporation for damage compensation for negligent road management, but only six compensations were paid over the past five years.

Jeong Gyeong-il / Traffic Accident Lawyer
Perpetrators are unaware and just drive away. So, only the victim suffers damage and can't even receive proper compensation.

Experts note that, in order to prevent accidents involving falling objects, authorities should crack down on vehicles carrying improperly fastened cargo or overloaded vehicles and expand the scope of damage compensation.

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