Police Intensify Crackdown on Violations Like Shoulder Driving and Cutting In Using Undercover Patrol Cars and Drones
On the 10th, one day before the Lunar New Year holiday, homebound vehicles are showing congestion at Singal IC as seen from a Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency helicopter. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Although the volume of travel during this Lunar New Year holiday is expected to decrease due to the spread of COVID-19, people continue to visit their hometowns. On highways crowded with returning travelers, the temptation for various forms of 'cheating driving' grows as drivers try to get ahead even a little faster amid traffic jams.
However, if caught, drivers may encounter undercover police patrol cars on the road and enforcement drones in the sky. For the safety of families and peace on the roads, cheating driving must be restrained.
According to the National Police Agency on the 11th, 7,278 cases of cheating driving were detected during last year's Lunar New Year and Chuseok holiday periods alone. The main traffic violations caught included ▲illegal lane usage ▲bus-only lane violations ▲cutting in line ▲driving on the shoulder, among others.
The number of cheating driving violations during holidays has been steadily increasing. During the 2019 Lunar New Year holiday, 1,344 cases were detected, but last year's Lunar New Year saw a sharp increase to 2,783 cases?more than double in one year. Last year's Chuseok holiday also recorded 4,495 cases, a 61.5% increase compared to Lunar New Year.
Additionally, over the past three years, the most frequently reported highway traffic violation during the Lunar New Year holiday was driving on the shoulder, accounting for 41.8% of all reports, followed by illegal lane usage (32.3%) and cutting in line (12.2%).
The increase in enforcement is attributed to various factors such as the police's advanced enforcement techniques and the use of cutting-edge equipment like drones. However, it is also analyzed that some drivers' careless attitudes toward cheating driving play a significant role.
The problem is that reckless actions like aggressive cutting in line can lead to major fatal accidents. In fact, in 2017 on the Gyeongbu Expressway, a passenger car suddenly changed lanes, causing a tourist bus to overturn, resulting in the deaths of four passengers.
The police plan to make every effort to ensure traffic safety during this Lunar New Year’s outbound and return travel. They will select the top 30 sections with frequent traffic accidents and deploy maximum available personnel and equipment to conduct repeated patrols, as well as place 66 mobile unmanned devices in habitual speeding zones.
Furthermore, 42 undercover patrol cars on highways and camcorders and drones will be used to crack down on cheating driving. In particular, enforcement drones will be utilized in cooperation with the Korea Expressway Corporation in locations where patrol cars have difficulty accessing due to congestion, and will be deployed in high-traffic areas for five days, including the holiday period.
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