SPICA’s Jiwon Involved in Car Accident After Dozing Off at the Wheel, Agency Responds

[theemii.livejournal.com]

It has been revealed that SPICA member Yang Jiwon was involved in a car accident after having fallen asleep at the wheel.

On July 3, the Gangnam Police reported that Jiwon caused a three-vehicle accident at around 11:30 p.m. (KST) on July 2 on her way to Seongsu-dong from the direction of the Seongsu Bridge in Apgujeong.


It is said that the SPICA member crashed her Chevrolet into two taxis that were stopped at a red light in the lane next to her as she was on her way home. A total of four people, including Jiwon, were involved in the three-car accident and expressed minor pain in their neck, arms, and knees. Jiwon was transferred to a local hospital due to slight injury to her right wrist, along with the others involved.

After checking her blood alcohol level immediately at the scene of the crash, police confirmed that Jiwon was not driving under the influence of alcohol.

On July 3, a representative of B2M Entertainment addressed the incident: “Although Jiwon is in a great state of shock following the accident, she has sustained no major injuries. She visited a hospital right after the accident and was discharged after getting a cast on her finger. [The accident happened] at a time when she has been practicing hard while preparing for SPICA’s comeback. We apologize for causing fans to worry.” The agency rep also emphasized, “It was not due to drunk driving.”



Article: [Exclusive] Spica's Yang Jiwon causes 3 car rear end collision with drowsy driving

Source: Kukmin Ilbo via Nate

1. [+207, -7] She should've pulled over and gotten some fresh air if she felt sleepy. It would've been better than grabbing the wheel.

2. [+170, -5] Fortunate that nobody was severely injured.

3. [+147, -7] Driving while sleepy or under the influence affects other people, not just yourself... should be more careful, it could've been a big accident;

4. [+12, -0] The scary thing about drowsy driving is that you don't realize that you're dozing off until it's too late

Article: Yang Jiwon reps, "Lightly injured over car accident... it was not a big accident" (official statement)

Source: OSEN via Naver

1. [+306, -26] She's the one who caused the accident and yet she's the one acting like the victim ㅋㅋㅋ amazing

2. [+298, -23] I feel bad for the two taxis who had to suffer an accident for no reason ㅋㅋㅋ Wake up and pay attention when you drive

3. [+200, -20] Fortunate that no one was injured... but drowsy driving is dangerous so pull aside.

4. [+168, -7] She should've taken a break before driving if she was that sleepy. Drowsy driving is dangerous.

5. [+102, -22] Fortunate that the injuries aren't severe. I hope everyone is safe..

6. [+63, -1] I'm not interested in whether you're injured or not but whether the people who got hurt because of you are severely injured... you ram into two cars and call it not a big deal? ha

7. [+57, -2] Ridiculous how the person who caused the accident releases articles talking like they're the victim

8. [+50, -1] As someone who caused the accident, the official statement should also include an apology

9. [+42, -1] ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ So ridiculous how the person who caused the accident is sitting around saying "I'm okay guys" ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

10. [+41, -3] Drowsy driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving. What was she going to do if the others were severely injured?


source: Soompi naver 1 2 & Netizenbuzz nate naver

Comments

[jrt131n.livejournal.com]

1. [+306, -26] She's the one who caused the accident and yet she's the one acting like the victim ㅋㅋㅋ amazing

6. [+63, -1] I'm not interested in whether you're injured or not but whether the people who got hurt because of you are severely injured... you ram into two cars and call it not a big deal? ha

7. [+57, -2] Ridiculous how the person who caused the accident releases articles talking like they're the victim



I'm sorry....but did she write this article??? No? Ok so why so salty? Be made at the actually author of the article that the person it happen to.

[donutism.livejournal.com]

Driving tired is really dangerous. :( I just wish they would get more rest. I wish their managers will get more rest too, because accidents happen too often.

[mamamoos.livejournal.com]

i don't condone this but tbh sometimes you're so sleep-deprived it can hit you all of a sudden right? idols are in a tough position. i'm glad nobody was badly hurt

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

Even when you're not particularly sleep deprived... Once on holidays, my family had to drive long periods of time to get from one hotel to the other. We were three drivers so we devided the time but my father was still driving more - that's how it is. Even with full nights, he fell asleep and the car immediatly dozed off to the side of the road... Happily nothing happened for us (we reacted quickly) but it's a matter of seconds, really, and if cars had been on the next lane (like here) we would have bumped into them :(
Which is why managers and idols driving is scaring me, knowing how self deprived they are...

[mamamoos.livejournal.com]

yeah i don't have any experience with cars but sleep deprivation could very easily be an issue it seems so it definitely would be with any idol. i can't believe companies are so cheap that they put people in danger like that rather than having more drivers. if they can't afford as much the company shouldn't exist. there should be some law against it?

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

I don't know how they could word a law for that :/
In the end, the companies would save a lot of trouble by hiring professional drivers, but I guess they have to consider idols and managers as human beings first...

[mamamoos.livejournal.com]

it just seems like such a basic health and safety thing sigh

[love-keiko.livejournal.com]

omg i had a mini freak out. i'm glad it's not nearly as bad as i imagined.

[hearttaek.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear no one was severely injured. But I still think the official statement should have come with an apology (not just, "We apologize for causing fans to worry").

[rightclick5ave.livejournal.com]

interesting fact! B2M actually HASN'T put out an official statement because THEY ARE INCOMPETENT DUMBASSES WHO THINK THAT RESPONDING TO REPORTERS' PHONECALLS IS ENOUGH.

[mad-nux.livejournal.com]

im glad no major injuries. . spica comeback yess

[rightclick5ave.livejournal.com]

lol please don't believe B2M's bullshit.. I find it distasteful that they even brought it up in their response :/ that was not an appropriate time for mediaplay, whether intentional or not...

[atopworld.livejournal.com]

I'm glad no one was hurt.

Oh Netz, that's not fair. Sometimes you don't know how tired you are until you actually start driving. Plenty of times I felt fine before driving, and then the combination of the car moving, the music playing, and the cool air will slap me right in the face with sleepiness. Of course that doesn't mean I encourage driving when you know you haven't slept properly, but I assume especially for idols that where they get most of their sleep is in a moving vehicle.

[kaypukis.livejournal.com]

and why in the first place she's driving by herself? doesn't spica have manager or someone that should be drove them?
getting sleepy while driving is as careless as DUI for me. so, B2M should apologize for causing this accident in the first place..

[rightclick5ave.livejournal.com]

as far as I know, the members have managers to drive them around for official schedules like filming and radio, but otherwise their personal time is theirs. Jiwon has said that the accident is 100% her fault and apologised to the victims personally, but B2M hasn't issued an official statement (don't think they will tbh)

[kaypukis.livejournal.com]

yeah, i just read your below explanation. B2M statement make it like Jiwon just back from their comeback practice, that's why i just assumed the managers should be with her.
and idk why B2M statement not include apologizing when Jiwon herself admit it was her fault :/

[rightclick5ave.livejournal.com]

I asked @Spica_Tweets about the context of the comeback practice mention, and she said that B2M didn't say she was tired from comeback practice, they only mentioned that she would be resuming practice after her injury heals. I guess it's a case of misinterpretation by the English sites. see B2M, this is why you should issue an offiicial statement with clear wording, so that reporters don't misinterpret your responses. ugh.

[siaht.livejournal.com]

You know the people going off at her don't even have their driver's licence yet. They have no idea what it is like to experience sleepiness while driving even though you felt just fine before.

I hope she won't be traumatized by the accident.

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

I'm wondering if there will be bitter VIP comments like there were in the NB article lol.

But I'm basically parroting everyone else + I think it's irresponsible to let idols drive unless they're on lightened schedule or something in general. They're overworked.

[rightclick5ave.livejournal.com]

yeah I was wondering what came out of that Seungri thing.. was he charged..?

Jiwon's schedule is pretty light right now, nowhere near promotion period levels.. but in general her health isn't great and she seems to be stressed recently (I'm assuming this from her emo IG captions lol), so those are probably more relevant factors.

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

the 1st #4 is fairly right. I mean, sometimes you do know you're tired. But other times you don't even realize it until you start to veer. :\ It's friggin' scary!

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

Did B2M just pretty much admit she fell sleep due to exhaustion from her work? That's not good.

[rightclick5ave.livejournal.com]

ah crap I just submitted this, didn't know it was already posted! anyway, here are some more details:

as noted from the translator (@Spica_Tweets), B2M has not issued an official statement but only responded to calls from reporters, so each of the articles have slightly different details. here are some other responses that were not included in the above article:

1. Jiwon admitted that she is 100% responsible in causing the accident
2. Jiwon apologised to the victims personally
3. It's a very minor traffic accident; one of the involved drivers even said "It's fine" and left without going to the hospital.

I'm not shielding Jiwon, but I'm pissed that once again B2M isn't doing more to clear the air. mentioning her minor injury and their non-existent comeback that the Korean public isn't even checking for is going to help how..? she's not the victim.. this is one of those situations where a standard kpop damage control PR statement is in order, not scattered responses to phonecalls. fuck B2M. and as expected, knetizens have already likened this to Seungri's accident (what came out of that btw?)...

[magicpineapple.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info, bb.

[magicpineapple.livejournal.com]

Glad that everyone is alright. Driving sleepy/tired is so scary, & often you don't realize it till it hits you out of nowhere. =\

[violoncelliste.livejournal.com]

thank god no one got seriously hurt. i hope they apologize to others involved