"Urban Area Speed Limit 50 km/h"... Nationwide Implementation of 'Safe Speed 5030' on the 17th

At the 'Safe Speed 5030' practice declaration ceremony held on the 13th at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, attendees including Byeon Chang-heum, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Kim Chang-ryong, Commissioner of the National Police Agency, and former football player Lee Dong-guk are taking a commemorative photo. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 15th that the 'Safe Speed 5030' policy, which lowers the speed limit on general roads in urban areas to 50 km/h, will be fully implemented nationwide on the 17th.

Safe Speed 5030 is a policy that reduces vehicle speed limits in urban areas with frequent pedestrian traffic to 50 km/h on general roads (60 km/h may be applied if necessary for traffic flow) and to 30 km/h or less on side streets such as residential areas.

Since 2016, the government has formed the 'Safe Speed 5030 Council,' consisting of 12 public, private, and academic institutions, and has made efforts to introduce and establish the policy. Starting with Yeongdo-gu, Busan in 2017, a pilot operation was conducted in the four gates area of Seoul in 2018, and based on foreign cases and research results, the Road Traffic Act Enforcement Rules were revised in 2019.

In particular, the pilot operation of Safe Speed 5030 showed a significant reduction in traffic accident fatalities and injuries. In Yeongdo-gu, Busan, pedestrian traffic accident deaths decreased by 37.5%, and within the four gates area of Seoul, the number of seriously injured pedestrians in traffic accidents decreased by 30%.

Concerns about traffic congestion raised by some are also addressed by the government’s explanation that driving experiments in major cities such as Seoul and Busan showed almost no change in travel time, indicating that lowering the speed limit has little impact on traffic flow. In fact, a survey conducted in 12 cities in December 2018 showed an average increase of only 2 minutes when the speed limit was lowered to 50 km/h, and a taxi fare survey in Busan in May 2019 showed an increase of only 106 won.

The government stated, “Although it may feel somewhat awkward and inconvenient at the beginning of implementation, it is necessary to actively participate in this new change with a sense of responsibility that traffic safety is not only the nation’s but also the entire citizens’ duty,” and “We ask drivers to remember that when they get out of their cars, they become pedestrians, and that pedestrians may be their precious family members, and to strive to create a pedestrian-centered traffic culture.”