Speed Bumps Installation Made Mandatory Within Apartment Complexes

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] The installation of traffic safety facilities such as speed bumps will be mandatory to prevent traffic accidents occurring within apartment complexes.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 27th that it will promulgate and enforce amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules of the "Traffic Safety Act," aimed at strengthening traffic safety within complexes.

The management entity of the apartment complex must post traffic regulations such as vehicle speed limits, and the head of the local government will inspect and supervise whether traffic safety facilities are properly installed within the apartment complex.

This amendment follows the revision of the Traffic Safety Act on November 26 last year, prompted by a child fatality accident at a crosswalk within an apartment complex road in Daejeon in October 2017.

Through this amendment, traffic regulations similar to those under the Road Traffic Act will be applied within apartment complexes, which are areas outside roads covered by the Road Traffic Act, and the installation of traffic safety facilities will be made mandatory, thereby expected to secure the safety of pedestrians, including children, within apartment complexes.

The amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Enforcement Rules reflect detailed provisions delegated by the law.

First, in multi-family housing complexes subject to mandatory management with 300 or more households where vehicle traffic is frequent and pedestrian movement is high, the residents' representative meetings, etc., are required to install traffic safety facilities such as crosswalks, stop lines, safety signs, speed bumps, child safety zone signs, road mirrors, and lighting facilities.

In cases where the road curves sharply and there is a risk of vehicles encroaching on pedestrian pathways, or in long passage sections where speeding is a concern, the installation of guide posts, vehicle entry prevention bollards, and pedestrian protection fences is mandated.

The management office head or other management entities are obligated to post the vehicle traffic regulations within the apartment complex in places clearly visible to drivers and to promptly notify the relevant local government head in the event of a serious accident (fatality or injury requiring treatment for three weeks or more).

Eom Myung-so, Director General of Comprehensive Transportation Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, stated, "We will do our best to create a safe passage environment so that pedestrians can walk safely within apartment complexes," and urged, "We ask road installation managers within complexes and local governments to actively cooperate to ensure that the newly established system functions properly on site."