"Stolen Cars, Parents' Cars, Borrowed Cars"... 'Frightening Teens' on the Road

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungyun Song and Jeongyun Lee] On the evening of the 3rd, around 10 PM, the police received a report near Seogang Bridge in Mapo-gu, Seoul, about a vehicle suspected of drunk driving. The police located the vehicle at the scene and stopped it. The driver was a teenager, A (17 years old). Police investigation revealed that A was driving a stolen vehicle without a license.

On the 20th, teenage boys driving stolen cars without licenses were also caught by the police. The Dobong Police Station in Seoul has booked and is investigating three teenagers, including B, on charges of theft and unlicensed driving. They are accused of stealing a car around 3:30 AM on a street in Gangbuk-gu and driving it without a license for about 6 km to Dobong-gu. On the 30th of last month, C (18 years old) was also caught by police for stealing his father's car and driving without a license and recklessly on a road in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

Unlicensed driving among teenagers has reached a serious level. According to data on unlicensed driving traffic accidents by year obtained by Asia Economy from the National Police Agency, 22,372 people were caught for unlicensed driving last year, of which 2,352 (10.5%) were youths. Youth unlicensed driving peaked at 2,766 in 2017, dropped to 1,981 in 2018, then rose again to 2,187 in 2019 and 2,352 last year.

Youths often lack driving skills and frequently violate signals and speed limits, and often have friends as passengers, which can lead to major or fatal accidents. In October last year, D (18 years old), who was driving a car rented under a stolen identity with friends on a four-lane road in Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do, fatally struck a woman in her 20s crossing a crosswalk, sparking nationwide outrage. Among the 5,307 total accidents caused by unlicensed driving last year, 833 (15.6%) were caused by youths. There were 24 deaths and 1,197 injuries reported. Yearly figures were 765 accidents (20 deaths, 1,112 injuries) in 2017, 618 accidents (21 deaths, 898 injuries) in 2018, and 689 accidents (18 deaths, 1,026 injuries) in 2019.

Many youths secretly take their parents' cars, but recently, methods to easily rent cars have been covertly shared. So-called 'car-sharing brokers' openly operate, renting vehicles to youths despite knowing they are minors. They install vehicle-sharing apps using stolen identities and then rent the cars to youths. Such information is easily found on social networking services (SNS) and Telegram messenger. Most promotional posts claim that vehicle rental is possible even for minors without licenses.

Professor Kim Pil-su of Daelim University’s Department of Automotive Studies said, "Recently, youth unlicensed driving and accidents are increasing, and the emergence of professional brokers renting vehicles makes this a serious social problem. While strengthening penalties is good, mid- to long-term education for prevention should also be implemented, along with consideration of ways to change culture and systems."