"Over 4,700 Illegal Parking-Related Accidents in 3 Years... Administrative Sanctions Need Strengthening"

Samsung Transportation Safety Culture Institute 'Risk of Accidents Caused by Illegal Parking Vehicles and Countermeasures'

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Over the past three years, more than 4,700 accidents caused by illegal parking and stopping have occurred. To expand the assignment of accident responsibility to vehicles illegally parked or stopped that cause accidents, it is urgent to strengthen administrative measures to suppress illegal parking and stopping along with activating police reports.

According to the report "Risk and Countermeasures of Accidents Caused by Illegally Parked Vehicles" released on the 25th by the Samsung Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute affiliated with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, the number of accidents caused by illegal parking and stopping reported to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance from 2018 to last year totaled 1,409 cases.

Considering Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s market share of 30%, it is estimated that about 4,700 such accidents have been reported to all general insurance companies.

In particular, the number of accidents caused last year was 569, showing an increase of about 41.5% compared to the previous year, and the trend has been rising every year. In the first half of this year, 492 accidents occurred, which is 86.5% more than the same period last year.

Accidents caused by illegal parking and stopping refer not to collisions directly with illegally parked vehicles, but to vehicle-to-vehicle accidents occurring while avoiding illegally parked vehicles or vehicle-to-pedestrian accidents caused by pedestrians suddenly entering in front of illegally parked vehicles.

Analysis of the 1,409 accidents reported to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance showed that vehicle-to-vehicle accidents accounted for the largest share at 59.2%, with most of these (54.6%) occurring during lane changes.

The most frequent type of accident during lane changes was when a driver attempted to change lanes from the second lane to the first lane on a two-lane one-way road due to an illegally parked vehicle, resulting in a collision with a vehicle traveling in the first lane.

In particular, a review of civil lawsuit precedents (claims for subrogation) against illegally parked vehicles that caused accidents recognized a "significant causal relationship" between the accident and the illegally parked vehicle, with fault ratios imposed ranging from a minimum of 15% to a maximum of 40%.

However, identifying the personal information of illegally parked vehicles is most important for assigning accident responsibility, but the police report rate is low at 7.2%, and there have been few cases of assigning responsibility due to illegally parked vehicles leaving the scene after accidents.

Jeon Je-ho, lead researcher at the Samsung Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute, said, "Illegal parking and stopping may be convenient for the driver, but they interfere with the normal driving of other vehicles and block drivers’ visibility, leading to traffic accidents and causing many unfair victims." He advised, "If an accident occurs, the parties involved should report it to the police immediately or at least secure the license plate number of the illegally parked vehicle."

He added, "To prevent illegal parking and stopping, administrative measures such as increasing fines and introducing penalty points should be strengthened," and emphasized, "Above all, drivers themselves need to develop the habit of checking nearby parking lots in advance using parking apps before driving."