An electric scooter parked on a sidewalk. This image is unrelated to the article. [Yonhap]
An electric scooter parked on a sidewalk. This image is unrelated to the article. [Yonhap]

A man in his 50s who struck a 6-year-old child with an electric scooter on a sidewalk and fled the scene has been fined.

Judge Park Ju-young of the Busan District Court's Criminal Division 3 sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, to a fine of 3 million won ($1,940) on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes — specifically, fleeing after causing injury.

A was riding an electric scooter on a sidewalk in Busanjin-gu, Busan, at around 9:34 p.m. on March 29 last year when he struck a 6-year-old boy walking toward him with his mother, then fled. The child sustained bruising to his lower back and pelvis requiring approximately two weeks of treatment.

Judge Park found that A, as the scooter's operator, had a duty of care to watch ahead and to both sides while riding and to operate the steering and braking mechanisms properly to prevent an accident. Instead, A rode on the sidewalk, knocked the child down with the scooter, and fled without stopping to assist the victim.

"The fact that he reached a settlement with the victim works in his favor," Judge Park said, "but I took into account that he fled after injuring a young child for two weeks, and that he has a considerable prior criminal record."


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