Seoul City Launches Series of 'Safety Campaigns' for School Season... Joint Intensive Crackdowns and Legal Revisions Planned

PM Speed Limit Setting, Legal Revisions for PM, Bicycle, and Two-Wheeler Towing Grounds
Creating Safe Environments with 'Low-Speed Designated Lane System' and 'Seoul-Type Safe Speed 532 Project'

Joint Street Campaign by the Korea Road Traffic Authority and District Offices

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced on the 9th that starting in March, it will officially begin legislative amendments to strengthen pedestrian safety, pilot projects, and large-scale joint campaigns involving the public, private sectors, and police to establish a culture of pedestrian safety for the coexistence of pedestrians, bicycles, and PMs.

Seoul City will first continue to promote legislative improvements to limit the operating speed of PMs to 20 km/h in order to secure pedestrian safety amid the increasing number of PM users. At the same time, it plans to request an amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Road Traffic Act to allow towing without separate fines when pedestrian obstruction occurs due to illegal parking on sidewalks.

Along with legislative improvements, joint guidance and crackdowns for pedestrian safety will also be implemented. Considering the full-day attendance of 1st and 2nd graders in elementary schools, which had been postponed due to COVID-19, since the 23rd, joint pre-announcement crackdowns on illegally parked vehicles have started in 1,750 school zones across Seoul involving the city, district offices, and police.

Intensive joint crackdowns will be conducted until the 19th. During actual school attendance times by grade and school due to COVID-19, enforcement will focus on vulnerable areas such as habitual illegal parking zones and accident-prone areas, and during the after-school hours when most child traffic accidents occur, crackdowns will be carried out across all target locations.

Additionally, a pilot project for a ‘low-speed designated lane system’ will be reviewed, focusing on bicycle lanes established within the green transportation promotion areas in the city center. The plan is to create an environment where bicycles and others can travel safely by selecting pilot sections for ‘speed remodeling’ considering vehicle speed limits and traffic volume on bicycle-priority roads within the green transportation promotion areas inside the Four Major Gates.

To officially introduce the ‘low-speed designated lane system’ in response to the increased use of electric kickboards and bicycles, an amendment to the ‘Standards for Vehicles by Lane’ in the Enforcement Rules of the Road Traffic Act must precede. Therefore, Seoul City will focus on institutional preparations by continuously proposing this agenda to the government and the National Assembly.

Meanwhile, Seoul City will actively expand the ‘Seoul-type Safe Speed 532’ project, which lowers the speed limit to 20 km/h in narrow back streets where sidewalks are difficult to install and pedestrian environment improvements are required, going beyond the ‘Safe Speed 5030’ initiative. The ‘Seoul-type Speed Limit 532’ project, centered on school zones, aims to make vehicle entry as difficult as possible in residential alleys where sidewalk maintenance is challenging, allowing children to become the main users of the roads. It was first implemented last year in 33 locations including Sinhyeon Elementary School in Jungnang District, Gayang Elementary School in Gangseo District, and Daehyeon Elementary School in Seodaemun District, and will be expanded to more than 35 locations this year.

Lee Hye-kyung, Seoul City’s Pedestrian-Friendly Planning Officer, emphasized, “The ‘pro-pedestrian policy’ for creating a pedestrian city is the most important core that can enhance urban competitiveness while advancing the realization of future transportation environments.” She added, “Since the activation of eco-friendly personal mobility devices is an indispensable element of future transportation, we will continuously prepare measures to prioritize pedestrian safety by establishing a harmonious coexistence system and a safety culture.”