[Sportschosun, Kim Jun-seok] Kim Min-ji, a track-and-field athlete known as the 'Karina of track and field,' opened up about a series of car accidents and unexpected incidents she experienced after buying a new vehicle.
Her bumper was ripped off just two days after the car was delivered, and she later returned home by tow truck after a tire was shredded on the highway.
In a video posted on her YouTube channel on the first, Kim Min-ji described experiences involving vehicle damage, an inability to charge the car, and getting stuck at a parking facility.
Early in the video, she was shown with a severely shredded tire on a highway. Kim Min-ji appeared flustered as she showed that part of the tire had come off, leaving a hole.
When the tow truck arrived, she tried to stay positive, saying she might never otherwise get the chance to ride in such a vehicle.
Another unexpected incident occurred the next day. She had parked at a building she visited for baseball practice, following the manager's instructions, but an overweight warning appeared on the vehicle lift as she tried to leave.
Kim Min-ji was puzzled, saying that based on the weight limit she had checked, the Tesla Model Y fell within the permitted range.
She joked that perhaps her own weight, after eating a lot the previous day, was to blame, but also expressed frustration that she had been unable to get out for an hour.
Kim Min-ji also shared why she obtained a Class 1 driver's license at age 25. The team's vehicle at the time was a Hyundai Starex, and a senior teammate with a Class 1 license had been handling all the driving alone, so she got the license to help.
She said she saved money earned from track and field to buy her first car, a Kia Seltos, and drove accident-free for the next five years.
This year, the burden of fuel costs grew as she drove long distances between competitions and broadcast-related practices, so she switched to an electric vehicle.
However, she experienced her first accident just two days after receiving the new car. While turning the vehicle around in an alley she had entered by mistake, the sensors kept beeping. Since she saw no obstacles and felt no impact, she thought it was a malfunction.
Then, as she began reversing, she heard a loud noise. When she got out to check, she found that the bumper had been ripped off.
Kim Min-ji explained that the car had caught on a concrete-covered bollard installed to prevent illegal parking. She said the vehicle had now been repaired and that almost no trace remained, expressing her gratitude to the repair shop.
She also gave a detailed account of the tire damage on the highway. After watching a baseball game in Daejeon, she noticed a tire-pressure warning while driving home, but continued because she did not feel anything wrong with the car.
The tire-pressure warning for the right tire kept appearing, however, and when she was about 30 minutes from home, the vehicle began shaking violently after a loud noise.
She pulled over and found that the tire was torn badly enough for a hand to fit through it. She eventually called a tow truck, waited for more than 30 minutes, and then returned home.
There was also an occasion when she had to send the vehicle to a service center because it would not charge. She tried several chargers and even changed locations, but the car still would not charge. She later discovered that a fairly large piece of metal had gotten inside the charging port.
Kim Min-ji guessed that the piece of metal from the charger had entered the port during the charging process.
During her early days as a driver, she also experienced a frightening moment when an SUV coming from the opposite direction drove into her lane.
Kim Min-ji recalled that she had to stop suddenly on a road with no shoulder to use as an escape route. The other vehicle braked right in front of her before returning to its own lane. She said she and her colleagues later pooled their money to buy a dashcam.
Looking back on her string of car-related experiences, Kim Min-ji joked that she and her vehicle might not be a good match. She clarified that this did not mean she planned to replace the car right away, and asked viewers to recommend domestic vehicles and share their own driving experiences in the comments.
narusi@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
