Parked EV crashes into restaurant; four pedestrians injured

An electric vehicle without a driver at the wheel crashed into a restaurant building in Gangnam, Seoul, injuring four pedestrians, police said Friday.

The incident occurred at around 5:17 p.m. on Thursday, leaving pedestrians with minor injuries.

According to authorities, the vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz electric car, was parked when the accident happened. The car owner, a woman in her 30s, was seated in the passenger seat changing her shoes. She claimed to have pressed the car’s “auto-hold” function, which is designed to keep the vehicle stationary, but the car unexpectedly began to move.

Police confirmed that the owner was not under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. They are currently investigating the driver’s level of negligence to determine whether she violated the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents.