12 security guards crash while trying to free a resident’s Mercedes-Benz… “Sudden acceleration, what about repair costs?”

An accident occurred on the 22nd when a security guard in his 70s, who was moving a double-parked resident’s Mercedes-Benz car at an apartment complex in Yeouido, Seoul, hit 12 other cars parked in the parking lot one after another. Some car owners who suffered damage in this accident are strongly demanding compensation, and the owner of the vehicle that caused the accident and the security guard claim that it may have been a sudden acceleration, so the police have begun an investigation. If the security guard is held responsible, it is expected that he will have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in repair costs and vehicle rental fees.

◇The security guard who caused an accident while moving a Mercedes Benz for the convenience of residents “I don’t know how to cover hundreds of millions of repair costs.”

According to the Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station, management office, and residents, on the 22nd around 8 a.m., inside an apartment building in Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, a security guard named Ahn (77) used a Mercedes-Benz GLC vehicle to clear out cars that were double parked on a 30m street in front of the apartment. I sat in the driver’s seat. He usually drove without any problems, but on this day, Mr. Ahn hit 12 vehicles in succession, including 7 while reversing in the parking lot and 5 while turning right again and driving straight, before stopping. In this accident, the bumpers and rear ends of some vehicles were dented, and a significant portion of the vehicle driven by Mr. Ahn was also damaged.

Mr. Ahn, whom this newspaper met on the afternoon of the 22nd, said, “I was reversing in the morning of the 22nd and the accident happened in an instant.” He added, “I am very worried because I only have one or two pennies.” He also said, “After his retirement, I worked at this apartment for 17 years, but because of the trauma of the accident, I decided to quit my job as a security guard.”

Mr. Lee (63), the owner of the Mercedes Benz that Mr. Ahn drove, said, “If you add up the cost of repairs and rental fees for the accident vehicle, it will cost at least hundreds of millions of won.” He added, “One out of 12 owners of the damaged vehicle is strongly demanding compensation, and 2 “Myung only briefly inquired about the situation,” he said. It is said that Lee Benz’s estimate for repair costs alone is around 50 million won. As of the 24th, the 112㎡ (31 pyeong) unit for this apartment was traded for about 2.5 billion won, so among the cars that Mr. Ahn hit was a Mercedes Benz S350, a new luxury vehicle worth about 134.6 to 209.6 million won per unit. . Mr. Lee said, “There is a possibility of a sudden accident, and I feel sorry for the security guard.”

◇“The number of vehicles available for parking per household is 0.49 to 1.·“Double parking is basic”… Chronic parking difficulties are the fundamental problem

Yeouido A Apartment, where the 12-car collision occurred, is a 588-unit apartment complex completed in 1975, and has a total of 588 parking spaces, with one car per household. An official from this apartment complex said, “Some residents have two to three cars per household, so it is natural that there is a shortage of parking spaces.” Even though the parking lot was small, there was a lot of demand for parking, so chronic parking difficulties were serious.

For this reason, it is said that security guards have been doing ‘valet parking’, keeping residents’ vehicle keys in their possession and removing the cars for them upon request. It is customary for security guards to personally drive or push vehicles that are double-parked horizontally during rush hour. Mr. Ahn also got behind the wheel after receiving the Mercedes Benz car keys from the resident, Mr. Lee. Car keys were stored separately for each household in the drawer of the security room that this paper examined on this day.

The situation in other old apartments was similar. At around 9:30 p.m. on the 23rd, apartment A near Yeouido, which we visited, had all of the parking spaces in the original parking lot occupied. Even nine vehicles were parked on the dirt floor. This is a new parking space created around 2021 when the existing flower bed was pushed out to alleviate parking difficulties. This apartment building, built in 1976, had about 184 parking spaces, which is about 0.49 spaces per household.

It was said that security guards at this apartment also had a lot of trouble due to parking difficulties. A security guard (70 years old) who has been working at another Apartment B for 10 years said, “Residents and security guards are pushing cars with their own hands every morning, and my back hurts and my shoulder muscles feel like they are going to die from pushing the cars.” “On some occasions, I even drive the car instead of the residents,” he said. He also said, “It would be a big problem if I drove incorrectly and got a scratch on my car, so I would ask a colleague who is familiar with driving.”

◇ In the black box video, the speed does not decrease even though the brake light is on.. “Sudden acceleration is also suspected.”

According to the black box video at the time of the accident, Mr. Ahn appears to have applied the brakes one after another while putting the Mercedes in reverse. He can be seen hitting the brakes at least six times through the flashing brake lights. However, at this time, the vehicle suddenly speeds up, rushes backwards, and collides with two vehicles. As the vehicles are pushed away, they collide with five other vehicles.

Afterwards, the Mercedes-Benz vehicle continues to drive forward while the brake lights remain on. However, Mr. Ahn claims, “I have never changed the gear from reverse to drive.” Mr. Ahn turned his steering wheel to the right to reduce the damage from the accident, and the Benz increased its speed, colliding with five vehicles in a row and eventually coming to a stop. Ahn and witnesses at the time of the accident testified that during this process, a loud noise was heard from the engine of the Mercedes-Benz vehicle.

Mr. Ahn and the owner of the car claim that there is a possibility of sudden acceleration of the Mercedes-Benz vehicle. He said, “I hit the brakes and went backwards, but I hit the car behind me, and then I put on the brakes again, and the car just went forward.” In fact, if you look at the black box video of the rear of the car before the first collision, you can see the brake lights of the Mercedes Benz car reversing blinking one after another.

◇It is illegal to have a security guard park for you.. “It is not covered by insurance because it is a third party.”

According to the insurance industry, car insurance generally provides compensation only when the car owner and his or her family are insured. The accident vehicle is in the name of the owner, Mr. Lee’s wife, and the insurance is in the couple’s name. However, because it was not the Lee couple but a third party, security guard Ahn, who drove the car, insurance coverage is not possible and compensation itself is difficult. Above all, according to the revised Enforcement Decree of the Apartment Housing Management Act that went into effect in October 2021, it is illegal to have a security guard do proxy parking.

Since Mr. Ahn belongs to a service company and is working as a dispatched worker at an apartment complex, it is known that there is no separate liability insurance applicable to Mr. Ahn. An insurance company official explained, “If the management office has taken out fire insurance or liability insurance for the entire apartment, some compensation may be possible.”

The police plan to call security guard Ahn soon and investigate the exact circumstances of the accident. Mercedes-Benz Korea said, “Currently, we have not confirmed the accident vehicle, but if there is a customer request, we will closely examine the vehicle and find out.”