Children Protection Zone in front of Jamjeon Elementary School [Source - Asia Economy DB]
[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] As the so-called "Minsik Law," which includes provisions for enhanced punishment for child traffic accidents in school zones, officially known as the "Partial Amendment to the Road Traffic Act and Partial Amendment to the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes," came into effect on the 25th, voices demanding revision have grown among drivers from the very first day of enforcement, calling it an "unfair law" that places all accident responsibility solely on drivers.
The Minsik Law was created last September, named after Kim Minsik, a boy who died in a school zone in Asan, Chungnam. It is broadly divided into the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and the Road Traffic Act. Among these, the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes stipulates enhanced punishment for drivers who cause death or injury to children in school zones.
If a driver violates the speed limit (30 km/h) and causes a child's death, they face life imprisonment or imprisonment of three years or more; if injury results, the penalty ranges from one to fifteen years in prison or a fine between 5 million and 30 million won.
The problem is that even if the speed limit is observed, drivers can still be punished if they fail to fulfill their duty of forward caution. In other words, even if a driver is driving below 30 km/h and an accident occurs due to a child pedestrian jaywalking, the driver’s negligence can be held accountable. This means that only if the driver’s fault is 0% can they avoid punishment. This is why drivers are expressing dissatisfaction with the Minsik Law.
In reality, even if a pedestrian illegally crosses the crosswalk on a red light and an accident occurs, it is common to assign about 20-30% fault to the driver for failing to exercise forward caution, so it is very rare for drivers to have 0% fault in personal injury traffic accidents. Especially in cases involving violations of safe driving duties in school zones, which are among the 12 major traffic violations punishable criminally regardless of insurance status, the fault ratio tends to be higher.
Therefore, drivers argue that the Minsik Law, which unilaterally places responsibility solely on drivers, needs to be revised. Two days before the full enforcement of the Minsik Law, on the 23rd, a petition titled "We Petition to Amend the Minsik Law" was posted on the Blue House's national petition site.
The petitioner stated, "While I agree with installing speed cameras, crosswalk signals, and mandating no illegal parking to prevent child accidents, it is unfair to place all responsibility on drivers even when they could not have avoided accidents involving children in school zones."
They continued, "In principle, if the driver’s fault is 0%, they are not subject to the Minsik Law, but according to 2018 data from the Korea Insurance Development Institute, cases where drivers were recognized with less than 20% fault accounted for only 0.5%. Even if the general public thinks the accident was unavoidable by the driver, courts often judge that 'if caution had been exercised, the accident could have been prevented.'"
Furthermore, the petitioner pointed out, "Especially since violations of crosswalks account for 20.5% of child traffic accidents?more than twice that of adults?telling drivers to simply be cautious of children’s sudden actions is unrealistic and unfair. This law makes all drivers potential perpetrators of the crime and causes extreme tension and stress among drivers, making it one of the worst laws." As of 9 a.m. on the 25th, the petition had garnered over 23,000 supporters.
On the 24th, another petition titled "I am not confident in complying with the Minsik Law. We demand law revision and government action" proposed specific amendments. The petitioner, a driver in their 20s who has never caused a traffic accident, said, "Most drivers in Korea drive with maximum caution in school zones, elderly protection zones, and areas with many family tourists. Who among Korean drivers would want to hurt a child even slightly?"
They added, "I watched the video of the accident involving Minsik last year and questioned whether the driver could have avoided touching Minsik even slightly. The offending vehicle was traveling at 23 km/h, and there was a vehicle waiting at a signal on the left, creating a blind spot. How could an accident be prevented if a child suddenly ran out at full speed from that blind spot? I don’t know."
They continued, "While I fully agree that regulations are necessary to prevent accidents in school zones, the government also needs to make efforts commensurate with the level of demands this law places on drivers," urging for measures such as: installing pedestrian fences excluding crosswalk sections within school zones; installing convex mirrors in all school zone areas where blind spots may occur; installing speed bumps before and after all crosswalks in school zones; applying the same level of penalties to illegally parked vehicles involved in accidents within school zones; and recommending adding a 'Exclude School Zones' option in navigation and map app route searches.
They concluded, "The government, which just puts up a few 'School Zone' signs painted on the road and says 'Be careful on your own,' shifting all responsibility and duty onto drivers, resembles a bad adult who says, 'I am a moving metal object, so pedestrians should be careful,' and steps onto the road. Please, let us adults keep pace so that protecting our children can be a little easier and smoother."
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