Ministry of the Interior and Safety Achieves Results in Improving Frequent Traffic Accident Sites... 297 Improvement Projects to be Carried Out This Year
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 28th that the number of traffic accident fatalities decreased by 86.5% and the number of traffic accidents decreased by 31.5% in areas where the nationwide traffic accident frequent locations improvement project was implemented.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, together with the Korea Road Traffic Authority, analyzed the accident status for 179 locations nationwide where the improvement project was completed in 2018, comparing the average of three years before improvement and one year after improvement. The average annual number of fatalities from 2015 to 2017 before the project was 37, but in 2019, after the project was implemented, it dropped to 5, a decrease of 86.5%.
The number of traffic accidents also decreased by 31.5%, from an average of 1,491 cases before implementation to 1,021 cases after implementation. This shows that even simple improvements in traffic safety facilities, such as installing additional traffic signals and unmanned traffic enforcement equipment, have very high effectiveness.
In the case of Ansan Post Office Intersection in Gojan-dong, Ansan-si, Gyeonggi-do, a major arterial road in Ansan city with heavy pedestrian and traffic volume, an average of 22.3 traffic accidents occurred annually before improvement. After adding a forward traffic signal and changing the lanes approaching the intersection to a slow-driving pattern (zigzag markings), and installing speed bumps to slow down right-turning vehicles, the number of traffic accidents decreased by 51% to 11 cases compared to before the project.
Additionally, at the Ochang Elementary School Intersection in Ochang-eup, Cheongju-si, Chungbuk, where the right of way between intersecting roads was unclear and the intersection had poor visibility and pedestrian environment, an average of 6.3 traffic accidents occurred annually before improvement. After installing a raised intersection, stop signs, sidewalks, and pedestrian protective fences, the number of traffic accidents decreased by 84% to 1 case after the improvement project.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has been promoting the traffic accident frequent locations improvement project since 1988 to prevent damage caused by traffic accidents. Up to last year, 11,197 locations nationwide have been improved, and this year, the ministry plans to carry out improvement projects at 297 locations.
Yoon Jong-jin, Director of the Safety Policy Office at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “It is most important to thoroughly analyze the causes of accidents at locations where traffic accidents frequently occur and prepare customized improvement measures.” He added, “To achieve the goal of reducing traffic accident fatalities by half, we will continue to expand the traffic accident frequent locations improvement project, whose effectiveness has been verified.”
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