72% of Traffic Accidents in 'Eorinibohoguyeok' Occur While Crossing the Road

Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Related Agencies Joint Inspection Finds a Total of 337 Cases Requiring Facility Improvements

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] It has been revealed that over 70% of accidents in school zones occur while children are crossing the street. Analysis shows that 5 out of 10 offending drivers violated their duty to protect pedestrians.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 9th that these findings came from a joint inspection conducted from July 30 to August 14 at 52 school zones with high traffic accident risks.

The inspection targeted 42 school zones where two or more child traffic accidents or fatal accidents occurred in 2019, as well as 10 school zones with high accident risks due to cargo trucks or speeding vehicles.

As a result, a total of 87 child accidents occurred in these areas, with 63 cases (72%) happening while crossing the road. Bicycle-related accidents accounted for 6 cases (7%), and accidents occurring while traveling on the roadway were 3 cases (4%). Among the violations by offending drivers, 41 cases (47%) involved failure to protect pedestrians, followed by 20 cases (23%) of unsafe driving, and 13 cases (15%) of signal violations.

Additionally, major issues identified included lack of safety signs, speeding, illegal parking, and discontinuity of pedestrian spaces, with a total of 337 facility improvements needed, such as reinforcement of traffic safety facilities.

The Ministry plans to complete improvements by the end of the year for 272 cases (81%) that can be addressed in the short term, such as installing safety signs, by establishing maintenance plans. For 65 cases (19%) requiring significant budget, such as intersection structure improvements, these will be prioritized in next year’s school zone improvement projects.

In particular, to prevent accidents caused by speeding, signal violations, and illegal parking?which were identified as the most frequent risk factors (83 cases)?the Ministry will significantly expand traffic safety facilities such as unmanned traffic enforcement equipment and strengthen management of illegal parking.

To this end, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, together with the Ministry of Education, the National Police Agency, and local governments, plans to install 2,087 unmanned traffic enforcement devices and 2,146 traffic signals by the end of the year. Furthermore, 281 illegal roadside parking lots located on roads directly connected to main entrances of schools and kindergartens will be completely abolished by year-end.

Yoon Jong-jin, Director of the Safety Policy Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, "We will actively promote facility improvements in cooperation with related agencies to prevent traffic accidents in school zones," and urged, "We ask the public to recognize that drivers are protectors and to exercise special caution while driving."