KB News Desk
GPS driving log shows the driver did not speed at 178km/h as detected by police
South Korean police said Wednesday that they have cleared criminal charges against a 35-year-old man who was wrongly accused of excessive speeding on a road in Haenam-gun, South Jeolla Province.
The Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency said it was closing the investigation into a 35-year-old driver who was detected operating his vehicle at 178 kilometers per hour on Nov. 15. The road’s speed limit was 80 kph.
But he denied the charges and submitted a driving log from his GPS navigation application, which showed that he was driving at a considerably slower speed.
While speeding suspects usually face administrative punishment — which does not leave a criminal record — excessive speeding at 80 kilometers or more over the speed limit is subject to criminal investigation. Perpetrators can receive a fine and detention of less than 30 days without physical labor, or a prison term in extreme cases.
Police rechecked the video footage of the driver’s car recorded by a police vehicle and found that his car was moving at roughly the same speed as the police car — which was running at 92 kph. They concluded that it was unlikely the driver was traveling at such high speed and dropped the criminal investigation.
Officials said they plan to conduct additional examinations of video evidence when processing excessive-speeding cases to prevent similar misunderstandings in the future.
