Police probe cruise control in deadly highway crash
An investigation by police into whether an SUV driver using adaptive cruise control failed to notice slowed traffic before a five-vehicle crash killed two men in Jangsu County is underway.
The scene of a five-vehicle pileup that left two people dead and 11 others injured near Jangsu Junction on the southbound Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway in Jangsu County, North Jeolla, on Oct. 12.JEONBUK FIRE SERVICE
JANGSU COUNTY, North Jeolla — Police on Tuesday are investigating whether an SUV driver relied too heavily on adaptive cruise control (ACC) and failed to pay attention to the road ahead in a five-vehicle pileup that killed two men and injured 11 others on a highway a day earlier.
A KGM Torres SUV driven by a person in their 40s rear-ended an SM7 sedan at around 12:55 p.m. Monday on the southbound Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway in Jangsu County, North Jeolla, police and fire authorities said Tuesday. The impact triggered a chain-reaction collision involving three more vehicles ahead.
Two men in their 60s and 70s who were riding in the back seat of the SM7 sedan were killed after the vehicle sustained extensive damage in the crash. The man in his 60s died before paramedics arrived, while the man in his 70s suffered cardiac arrest during the rescue operation, according to fire authorities. Three other passengers in their 50s to 70s were hospitalized with serious injuries, including femur and upper arm fractures.
A five-vehicle pileup leaves two people dead and 11 injured near Jangsu Junction on the southbound Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway in Jangsu County, North Jeolla, on Oct. 12.JEONBUK FIRE SERVICE
Eight people in the other vehicles were also injured, though less seriously. They included the Torres SUV driver, four occupants of a KGM Rexton, two in a Hyundai Grandeur and one in a Hyundai Santa Fe. Most were in their 60s to 80s and reported pain in their necks, backs or hands.
Vehicles were traveling at reduced speeds because of tunnel construction near the crash site. Police are investigating whether the SUV driver failed to properly assess the surroundings and caused the collision.
Investigators are focusing on the vehicle's speed and whether the ACC was activated at the time of the collision. The system automatically adjusts the distance between vehicles while maintaining a speed set by the driver.
“The driver appears to have initially told investigators that cruise control was on at the time of the crash, only to change that account later,” said a police official. “We still have not established whether adaptive cruise control was actually active.”
Some have speculated that the SUV was traveling at around 100 kilometers per hour (62.13 miles per hour) without slowing down before the crash, though the vehicle's speed has yet to be confirmed. The speed limit on that section of the expressway is 100 kilometers per hour.
Police have secured the SUV's dashcam footage and plan to review it to determine the vehicle's speed, whether it was exceeding the speed limit and how the crash occurred. Investigators found no evidence of drunk driving. Police plan to book the driver on charges of causing death and injury through negligent driving under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents.
The scene of a five-vehicle pileup that left two people dead and 11 others injured near Jangsu Junction on the southbound Tongyeong-Daejeon Expressway in Jangsu County, North Jeolla, on Oct. 12.JEONBUK FIRE SERVICE
Cruise control-related crashes continue to mount
A fatal crash linked to ACC also occurred at around 1:51 a.m. on Jan. 4 near Gochang junction on the Seohaean Expressway, which connects Seoul to the Jeonnam-Gwangju area, formally known as the South Jeolla region.
An SUV driver fell asleep behind the wheel while ACC was engaged and plowed into an accident response scene. It killed a police officer and a tow-truck driver. Nine others, including paramedics, were injured.
The SUV was traveling at 128 kilometers per hour when the crash occurred, which exceeded the 110-kilometer-per-hour speed limit, investigators found.
In April, the Jeonju District Court handed the driver a 14-month prison sentence, suspended for three years, after a conviction on charges of causing death and injury in a traffic accident.
The number of crashes involving ACC has climbed in recent years. Figures provided by the Korea Expressway Corporation to Democratic Party lawmaker Park Yong-kab show that accidents involving vehicles operating with the cruise function rose from an annual average of fewer than three between 2020 and 2023 to 12 in 2024. Eight more occurred last year. There were also three secondary crashes on expressways while ACC was in use in both 2024 and 2025.
Police and the Korea Expressway Corporation warn that overreliance on driver-assistance technology could increase the risk of crashes. While ACC helps drivers maintain a safe distance from moving vehicles, it may fail to detect stationary vehicles or people at accident scenes.
“We primarily collect data on crashes that cause deaths or injuries, so the actual number of ACC-related secondary crashes may be higher than official statistics indicate,” said a Korea Expressway Corporation spokesperson. “Drivers must understand the system's limitations and stay alert to the road ahead.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
