Driving 70 miles per hour down the highway leaves little opportunity to avoid any number of on-road catastrophes. Even the best defensive drivers can get caught off guard. Thick, snarling traffic can make evasive maneuvers impossible, if not downright dangerous, which makes dodging debris in the road that much more difficult. Sometimes that debris can cause significant damage, and the latest reminder of that comes from South Korea, where a 2020 Genesis G80 drove over some junk and then caught on fire.
According to ZDNetKorea.com, the driver saw the debris – boxes and box fragments– in the road while driving through the tunnel on the Namhae Expressway, but the driver was unable to safely change lanes, forcing him to drive over the debris. The impact caused a low-pressure warning light to illuminate in the instrument cluster. After exiting the tunnel, the driver pulled the Genesis to the side of the road and escaped without any injuries. A driver in another vehicle alerted the authorities and helped suppress the fire.
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Changwon Fire Department officials are still investigating the incident; however, charred air cleaner parts for trucks were discovered in the burnt debris from the Genesis. It’s possible the debris struck a vital part under the car, leading to the fire. Hyundai dispatched a service center employee to also investigate the incident, according to the publication. Video from someone passing by shows the front of the G80 on fire, with flames escaping out the front, driver-side wheel well, and the front of the hood. Thick smoke rises into the air as it billows from the base of the windshield.
Luckily, the driver was able to escape without any injuries. According to ZDNetKorea.com, the owner had the vehicle for less than a month before the incident happened last week. It’s a terrible sequence of events, though things could have been much worse, especially if the driver would have overreacted. While the Genesis looks like a total loss, it is replaceable, unlike someone’s life.
Source: ZDNetKorea.com via Autoforum.cz
