Increasing Teen Rental Car Accidents: 34% of Companies Fail to Properly Verify Licenses

On the 13th of last month, a black Sonata sedan rented and driven by high school students collided head-on with a white K7 sedan coming from the opposite direction on a road in Sang-dong, Mokpo-si, Jeollanam-do, resulting in 3 deaths and 4 serious injuries. (Provided by Jeonnam Mokpo Fire Station) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Despite repeated incidents of teenage students renting cars without a license and causing hit-and-run fatal accidents, it has been revealed that one out of three car rental businesses are not subscribed to systems capable of verifying license status.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to Kang Junhyun, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, as of August, 387 out of 1,127 car rental businesses, accounting for 34.4%, were not subscribed to the automatic driver's license verification system.

The automatic driver's license verification system is a service provided by the Korea Road Traffic Authority to car rental businesses, allowing real-time checks of the renter's driver's license information (name, date of birth, license number, etc.) to prevent unlicensed driving in advance. From 2018 until last August, the system detected 2.18 million cases of abnormal driver's licenses.

Assemblyman Kang said, "Over the past four years, more than 400 cases of teenage unlicensed car rental accidents have occurred, resulting in 730 casualties," adding, "Although the automatic driver's license verification system is not a perfect solution to prevent unlicensed driving, it is a minimum safety measure, so mandatory subscription by car rental businesses should be promoted."