Busan Santa Fe Sudden Acceleration Incident, Supreme Court Rules Hyundai Not Liable for Damages
In relation to the 'Santa Fe sudden acceleration incident' that occurred in Busan in 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that Hyundai Motor Company and the parts manufacturer are not liable for damages in a civil lawsuit filed by the bereaved family.
On the 16th, the Supreme Court's Civil Division 2 (presided over by Justice Oh Kyung-mi) dismissed the appeal of the bereaved family member A against Hyundai Motor and Robert Bosch Korea in a case seeking 1 billion KRW in damages, confirming the lower court's ruling of the plaintiff's defeat.
This ruling brings an end to the legal dispute that has lasted eight years, beginning in 2017. The Busan District Court ruled against A's claim for damages of over 10 billion KRW in January 2022, after receiving the complaint in July 2017, and the Busan High Court also dismissed A's appeal for damages of 1 billion KRW in May 2023.
Eight Years of Legal Dispute
A's side argued in the appeal statement that there were defects in models like the Santa Fe vehicle, but Hyundai denied the existence of defects in the accident vehicle. They emphasized that Hyundai had confirmed the leak caused by the 'high-pressure fuel pump flange bolt loosening phenomenon' before the incident and had conducted free material exchanges.
However, the court did not accept these claims in both the first and second trials.
The judges based their decision on the results from the National Forensic Service's examination, concluding that there were no anomalies that suggested fuel or oil leaks or operational issues around the engine and high-pressure fuel pump of the accident vehicle. They also deemed the expert evaluations requested by the bereaved family as 'private assessments' that could not be accepted as evidence, further noting the possibility that the driver, B, did not apply the brakes.
Meanwhile, on August 2, 2016, a Santa Fe crashed into a trailer parked on the roadside in Gamman-dong, Nam-gu, Busan, resulting in the deaths of four family members, excluding the driver.
The publicly released dashboard camera footage captured urgent voices saying, "What's wrong with the car?" and "Baby, baby, baby," and the driver’s wife, daughter, and two grandchildren lost their lives.
Subsequently, A, the driver's son-in-law, and others filed a lawsuit against Hyundai Motor Company, among others.
Image source: Scene of the Santa Fe vehicle during the incident / Busan Police Agency, reference photo for understanding the article / gettyimagesbank
