By A civilian contractor was involved in a fatal accident with a South Korean man on a bicycle:
A civilian contractor at Kunsan Air Base struck and killed an elderly South Korean man riding a bicycle Thursday afternoon about two miles outside the base, according to a company spokesman.
The contractor, an employee of AAI Services Corp., was driving his car to the base around 3 p.m. when the South Korean man rode his bicycle from a side road and the two collided, AAI spokesman T.J. Cummins said.
Cummins said AAI won’t provide the contractor’s name until Korean National Police release a final investigation report.
A preliminary police report showed the contractor had not been drinking and was driving about 40 kph in an 80 kph zone, Cummins said. [Stars & Stripes]
USFK is saying they are not going to offer the initial solatia payment to the victim’s family because the driver of the car is a civilian contractor. That decision is being left to the logistics support company the driver works for. Hopefully that gets worked out quickly. I don’t see this turning into a major issue because the contractor wasn’t drunk and was well under the speed limit. Plus old grandpas riding bicycles out into the middle of traffic is quite common in Korea and I have had a few close calls myself. As long as the company provides the compensation money and shows proper remorse for the accident this shouldn’t turn into a major issue.
7:41 am on February 17th, 2008 1
One of the best lessons, when driving in Korea, is to employ a good insurance company. Some companies are famous for not paying out claims.
The better insurance companies may charge more, but the extra fee is worth saving the headaches when you do get into an accident. I have seen too many cases where the insurance co. refuses to pay more than a certain set limit and the driver foots part of the victim’s bill on their own.
Also, always have a camera, a Korean friends phone number, pen and paper, the insurance cos. phone number, and few hundred thousand won on you in the car at all times.
Any insurance company worth employing will provide a 24-hour number with English services.
If the accident is your fault and is minor, it is often best to just settle the issue at the scene.
5:50 am on February 18th, 2008 2
[...] ROK DropJapan Advocates for “Peace Tunnel” to Korea22 Returned North Korean Defectors ExecutedNot a Good IdeaROK Drop Weekly Linklets – 17FEB08Car Accident Leads to Death of South Korean Man [...]
1:53 pm on February 17th, 2008 3
Sean Hayes. Are you and Carr partners? I have noticed he is the Korean Law Blog?
2:39 pm on February 17th, 2008 4
Good Lord!
Professor Sean Hayes and I are partners. In fact, as soon as it is legal we will be wed. I like plushies.
The truth is, in June 2006 I registered the domain name "korealawblog.com" intending to get started with a Korea-focused blog inspired by Dan Harris' China Law Blog. Then I tarried getting my blog launched, and didn't start posting until July 2007. I did, however, in 2006 start linking to the korealawblog.com domain from my comments at the Marmot's Hole. Anyone clicking on my name would have been brought to a "Coming Soon" page at the korealawblog.com domain.
Somehow, no doubt independently of me, Sean Hayes got the idea to call his blog "Korean Law Blog", with an "n".
Around August 2007, I started posting my comments at Marmot's Hole and elsewhere under the name "Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog)" as a branding measure. Today I see Sean Hayes is now posting under the name "Sean Hayes (Korean Law Blog)".
Again, this all must be a coincidence.
However, even if it all seems too pat to be a simple coincidence, don't ever accuse the guy of being a copycat. He hates that.
3:28 pm on February 17th, 2008 5
Don't get me wrong — I don't mind the guy blogging. It just seems to me that he might try to avoid confusion instead of increase it.
8:03 pm on February 17th, 2008 6
So, you are saying that Sean Hayes is copycat. I somehow doubt that is true, but if it is, that is very clownish. SNAP!
9:55 pm on February 17th, 2008 7
Nevertheless Sean has provided some good advice for those of you driving in Korea. I hope one day I can get stationed in a non-2ID unit to where I can drive in Korea besides in a HMMWV.
10:30 pm on February 17th, 2008 8
I sense that this conversation could really use yet another lawyer.
Having had plenty of experience advising soldiers about their off-post accidents, I absolutely second Sean's advice. In fact, that's just what I did when I had an accident of my own in Bumf*ck, S. Cheolla — made an on-the-spot agreement that we'd each take our own losses. My car was a totalled. Sure, I was arguably at fault for making an illegal U-turn, but who honestly expects to get t-boned by a taxi doing 30 in reverse gear?
If you're a soldier, you refuse to settle up at the peril of getting a conviction in a foreign tribunal, which (depending on the conviction) could mean you go straight to Chapter 14-7. According to Army Regulation 635-200, a 14-7 board isn't supposed to look behind the fact of the conviction to the strength of the evidence against you.
Is it worth your career, especially when Korea has such excellent public transportation, amply stocked with fine eye candy? Hell, I hitchhiked out to Bulguksa and back, and all over Chejudo with a pregnant wife in tow. The only place in Korea where you need a car is on post at Yongsan.
1:07 am on February 18th, 2008 9
I have had only limited experience advising people about their car accidents. What experiences I have had have been hair-raising; the Korean environment surrounding the disposition of claims is quite different from what anyone raised in the US would consider "just", especially with the malingering that is not just common but positively encouraged by all parties.
As for whether Sean's curious decisions concerning his blog make him a "copycat", anyone considering that issue should not make a judgment simply based on those two potential coincidences. Focus on content.
7:34 pm on February 18th, 2008 10
[...] AAI Services Corps has done the right thing and paid the solatia payment to the family of the Korean bicycle accident victim. [...]
5:02 pm on February 18th, 2008 11
I cannot say that I read this with the proper frame of mind; it seems to me the OP has already convicted the contractor:
"As long as the company provides the compensation money and shows proper remorse…"
I know full well how these events work out. If the cash isn't coming, then there will be a massive PR campaign against the military and that particular contractor. But that should never be a reason for automatic payout…what if the bicycle driver was in the wrong? Without cameras or witnesses, I'm sure that will never be the outcome.
I do not speculate on the truth/outcome of this matter…my comment here is only to express disdain that it is expected for cash to be spread around when a local is killed – before any declaration of fault.
I see this often here in the Philippines and when my lease it up in October, it will be the single biggest reason that I leave the country for more level-headed working conditions back in Iraq. There is something about countries that thrive on the infusion of foreign monies but fleece them for money at every corner.
If the contractor is guilty of manslaughter and the SOFA allows it, then he stands before a local jurisdiction.
Good question now that I think about it…what are the contractors options under the SOFA?
5:11 pm on February 18th, 2008 12
The content of Sean Hayes and the Korea Law Blog is very good. Oh Snap!
5:16 pm on February 18th, 2008 13
It would please me to no end if both Korea Law Blog and the ought-to-be-differently-named Korean Law Blog were distinguishable from each other (I really don't think Sean wants to be mistaken for my partner either) and both useful to the general readership.
10:31 pm on February 18th, 2008 14
JD,
The solatia payment is not a confirmation guilt. The way the Korean system looks at it is that since the guy died even if he was at fault the person that killed him should make a payment to the deceased family. By not doing this is considered extremely inconsiderate in Korea.
If the driver is brought to trial than he will need to make a settlement with family or go to jail. As far as the SOFA since he is a civilian driving off post he is subject to Korean laws.
8:32 am on February 19th, 2008 15
Brendon Carr, which is right. I teach "America law" or I teach "American law"? I think Korean law blog is the right way to say it. Maybe you can join the two blogs into the Korean law blog.
8:41 am on February 19th, 2008 16
I don't think I'm going to get into a grammar argument with you. Your grammar is not exactly top-notch. There is also zero possibility of me and Sean combining our blogs — our writing styles, practice areas, and target clients are widely divergent.
9:27 am on February 19th, 2008 17
My grammar is poor.
;(
"American law" 2,280,00 results in google.
"America law" 73,000 results in google.
Yes,the name Korean Law Blog is much better. Yes just one blog. I choose Korean Law Blog first.
Why not just ask Professor Hayes. You sound like you two would complement each other as you have different styles, targets and practice areas. oh snap!
7:41 am on March 15th, 2008 18
all the comments are gone. It was just a bad dream. Sean Hayes never plagerized. He is still a professor, a lawyer who never lied about his credentials. Just a bad dream…. it never happened….
12:43 am on March 16th, 2008 19
Just for the record I cleaned up the comments since Brendon and Sean seem to have patched things up and come to an understanding about the disagreements they had.