Eight types of smart safety features including floor signal lights, automatic vehicle number recognition, and runway-type guidance lights consolidated... Following 14 sites last year, 3 additional sites including Gyeongil Elementary completed, expanding to a total of 24 sites by the end of this year
[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] A, a 36-year-old working mom from Haengdang-dong, was always worried that her elementary school child crossing the main road to attend an academy might run through the green light with only a few seconds left or be distracted by a smartphone while crossing the street. One day, A was delighted to see a new crosswalk installed in front of the main road. “The crosswalk has changed. For the distracted kids who often miss the traffic light because they are playing around with friends or looking at their phones, there are now ground-level traffic lights and voice guidance... I feel relieved now,” she said.
Seongdong-gu (District Mayor Jeong Wono) installed the nation’s first ‘Seongdong-type Smart Crosswalk’ equipped with state-of-the-art systems for the safety of both pedestrians and drivers at 14 locations with frequent traffic accidents, including in front of elementary schools, last year.
This crosswalk integrates eight smart safety features, including a ‘ground-level traffic light’ to prevent accidents involving ‘smombie’ (smartphone zombie) pedestrians, a ‘vehicle license plate automatic recognition system’ that uses CCTV to recognize license plates of vehicles violating the stop line and displays them on an electronic board, and a ‘pedestrian runway-type guide light’ that makes the crosswalk easily visible even at night or during adverse weather conditions such as fog or rain.
Last year, the district reflected on big data of over 6,300 traffic accidents and opinions from students and parents to pilot smart crosswalks at 14 locations: seven elementary schools with high-risk school routes and seven crosswalks with heavy pedestrian traffic and frequent traffic accidents. As a result, vehicles violating the stop line decreased sharply by 83.4%, and a resident survey showed an 88.4% effectiveness in preventing traffic accidents.
Accordingly, efforts to expand the installation of smart crosswalks are accelerating in 2020. Installation at three locations, including in front of the main gate of Gyeongil Elementary School, was completed in early October. When the installation at seven sites currently under construction is completed by the end of the year, a total of 24 smart crosswalks will be in operation.
A district official said, “Since 2019, before the implementation of the Min-sik Act, we have been leading child pedestrian safety by installing smart crosswalks in front of schools. Not only installing them but also linking them with the ‘Smart City Integrated Operation Center,’ we monitor twice daily, automatically collect traffic-related data, and automatically check status attribute information to build an integrated platform to ensure pedestrian safety.”
The district plans to install 24 additional smart crosswalks in 2021, expanding the total to 62 locations.
Jeong Wono, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “I feel proud that the smart crosswalks equipped with smart technology installed by our district are gradually spreading as excellent cases to central government ministries and local governments. We will continue to make our best efforts to create a Seongdong-type smart traffic city that protects residents’ daily lives safely and smartly.”
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