Boy band singer killed biker by pure accident

Daesung, a member of the popular Korean boy band Big Bang, was responsible for killing a motorcyclist on the Yanghwa Bridge when he ran over him in his Audi, police said.

But the motorcyclist was already fatally injured after drunkenly colliding with a lamp post, and police will recommend a charge of negligent homicide to prosecutors.

Kang Dae-sung, whose stage name is Daesung, was booked by police on May 31 after running over the male motorcyclist at the exit ramp of Yanghwa Bridge in northern Seoul at around 1 a.m. He also crashed into a taxi that had swerved to avoid the motorcylist’s body lying on road, and stopped to help. The taxi driver was slightly injured.

Yeongdeungpo police said yesterday that the victim, surnamed Hyun, had already suffered major injuries by driving his bike into a lamp post. Hyun’s blood alcohol level was found to be 0.168 percent. The legal limit is 0.05 percent.

The police had commissioned the National Forensic Service to conduct an autopsy.

According to the police, the autopsy results showed the main cause of Hyun’s death was being run over by Daesung.

“The bike driver sustained fatal injuries in the neck and forehead when he ran into the street lamp,” said Kim Chi-gwan, a police officer who investigated the case, “but he was still alive when Daesung accidentally ran over him. The motorcyclist got trapped under Daesung’s vehicle and died on the spot due to multiple injuries.”

Daesung did not see Hyun’s body on the road, police said, and was not drunk.

Earlier reports said Hyun’s motorcycle had been found propped up against a divider, suggesting another person was involved in the case. Those reports were erroneous, police said.

By Kwon Sang-soo, Yonhap [sakwon80@joongang.co.kr]

한글 관련 기사 [중앙일보]
경찰 “빅뱅 대성 차에 치여 오토바이 운전자 사망”

“1차 사고 때 이미 치명상 입어”
불구속기소 의견 검찰 송치
아이돌 그룹 ‘빅뱅’의 멤버 대성(22·본명 강대성)이 도로에 쓰러져 있던 오토바이 운전자를 치어 숨지게 한 것으로 나타났다.

　서울 영등포경찰서는 24일 “강대성씨가 시속 80km로 승용차를 몰다가 도로에 쓰러져 있던 오토바이 운전자 현모(30)씨를 발견하지 못하고 차량 바닥에 끼운 채 22.8m를 달려 다발성 손상으로 사망하게 했다”고 밝혔다. 경찰은 강씨에게 전방주시 태만에 따른 업무상 과실치사·상 혐의를 적용해 불구속 기소 의견으로 검찰에 송치할 방침이다.

　경찰에 따르면 강씨는 지난달 31일 오전 1시29분 양화대교 북단에서 남단 방향으로 아우디 승용차를 몰던 중 남단에서 168m 떨어진 지점에서 현씨를 치었다.

　이 사고에 앞서 현씨는 혈중알콜농도 0.168%인 음주 상태로 오토바이를 몰다가 가로등을 들이받고 도로에 쓰러져 있었던 것으로 조사됐다. 국립과학수사연구원은 가로등 하부 모서리에 오토바이 바퀴와 핸들 흔적이 남아 있고, 모서리에서 현씨의 DNA가 검출된 점 등으로 미뤄볼 때 뺑소니 같은 또 다른 사고는 없었다고 결론지었다. 경찰은 현씨가 1차 사고 때 가로등 기둥에 충돌하면서 이마·목 등에 치명적인 상처를 입었지만 강씨가 2차 사고를 내기 전까지는 사망하지 않은 상태였다고 밝혔다.