[Herald DB]
[Herald DB]

A man in his 50s who stopped his car on a highway and threatened another driver with a steel water bottle after a high-beam standoff has been fined.

Judge Park Dong-wook of Chuncheon District Court's Criminal Division 3 sentenced A, 54, to a fine of 2 million won ($1,510) on charges of aggravated intimidation.

A was summarily indicted after he allegedly stopped his vehicle abruptly in front of a car driven by B, 28, near the Chuncheon rest stop on the Jungang Expressway heading toward Busan in March, got out and argued with B, then brandished a steel water bottle as if to strike him. A contested the summary order — which would have closed the case without a full trial — and demanded a formal hearing.

According to the indictment, A had been changing lanes repeatedly to get behind B's vehicle and flash his high beams in protest after B had been tailgating him. After A overtook B, B turned his own high beams on A's vehicle, prompting A to stop and confront him.

In court, A denied the charges, claiming the dashboard camera footage submitted by B had been manipulated and edited rather than being the original, and that he had stopped his car and picked up the steel water bottle only to defend himself against B's threatening driving and behavior.

The court rejected the tampering claim, noting that footage from both vehicles' dashboard cameras was largely consistent. It also found A's self-defense argument unconvincing, given that A had approached B first after stopping and initiated the argument, including hurling verbal abuse.

"Despite objective evidence such as the dashboard camera footage, the defendant has offered explanations that are difficult to accept, and he has not reached a settlement with the victim," the court said in its ruling. "The sentence was determined in consideration of factors including that the offense appears to have been committed impulsively and that the defendant has no prior criminal record."


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