Riders Threaten Residents' Safety by Illegally Riding on Sidewalks and Against Traffic... 'Our Neighborhood Management Office' and School Route Guardians Reduce Violations Using Safe Report App
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] As COVID-19 has prolonged, orders for delivery food have also increased. Along with this, residents’ discomfort due to reckless driving by delivery riders is also on the rise.
Accordingly, the case of the Our Neighborhood Management Office in Jungnim-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, which is taking on delivery riders head-on, is gaining attention.
The Our Neighborhood Management Office in Jungnim-dong (hereafter ‘Udongso’) has significantly reduced unauthorized driving by delivery motorcycles over three months through crackdowns using school route guardians, starting from mid-July, in response to a flood of complaints from residents.
The sidewalks in front of exits 5 and 6 of Chungjeongno Station and in front of the Hanra Vivaldi Apartment shopping area require a long detour to cross from the opposite lane, but some motorcycles violate the center line by riding on the sidewalk or ignoring pedestrian signals to cross crosswalks illegally, posing a serious safety risk to residents.
In particular, with the rapid spread of food delivery culture due to the high-intensity social distancing measures from COVID-19, complaints about damages caused by reckless driving of delivery riders have been incessant.
The number of traffic violations by motorcycles increased sharply by 87%, from 311,403 cases in 2019 to 581,903 cases last year. As delivery demand increased in the COVID era, traffic violations by motorcycles also rose accordingly. Especially, center line violations increased by 131% and signal violations by 151% compared to the previous year.
Therefore, Jungnim-dong and the district office put their heads together to resolve this, but it was not easy. Motorcycle crackdowns require direct enforcement by traffic police or citizen reports, so the district office’s role is limited.
Moreover, unmanned enforcement cameras operated by the police station can only recognize front license plates, so delivery motorcycle drivers with rear-mounted plates continue to violate signals and speed limits without concern for cameras installed at intersections or crosswalks. The small size of motorcycle license plates also makes identification difficult.
The National Police Agency plans to develop and pilot high-definition unmanned enforcement equipment capable of recognizing rear license plates starting next year, but nationwide installation will take considerable time.
At one point, cooperation with the police station was sought to use camcorders to video-enforce motorcycle wrong-way driving and sidewalk riding, but due to high security demands in the Namdaemun Police Station jurisdiction, police manpower was insufficient to focus enforcement only in Jungnim-dong.
Thus, Udongso in Jungnim-dong stepped up.
‘Our Neighborhood Management Office’ provides life-oriented services such as cleaning and disinfection in densely populated residential areas, similar to apartment management offices, and is installed in 12 neighborhoods within Jung-gu, including Jungnim-dong. Udongso in Jungnim-dong opened on June 15 on the first floor of Jungnim Comprehensive Welfare Center and consists of 11 members: 2 team leaders, 4 Bongrae Dream Tree Guardians (school route guardians), 3 Our Village Clean Coordinators, and 2 Life Quarantine Coordinators.
Udongso’s involvement means that Jungnim-dong residents themselves are taking the initiative to solve local problems.
While advanced digital solutions are good for problem-solving, sometimes analog methods are more convenient. First, together with Namdaemun Police Station, banners prohibiting unauthorized motorcycle sidewalk riding and wrong-way driving were posted.
To raise awareness among motorcycle drivers, phrases such as ‘Enforcement Scheduled’ were also included.
Then, four Bongrae Dream Tree Guardians, who serve as safe school route guardians in front of elementary schools, were deployed in pairs from 11 a.m. to noon daily at the sidewalk in front of Chungjeongno Station Exit 5 and the Hanra Vivaldi shopping area to film motorcycles engaging in unauthorized or wrong-way driving.
The videos recorded this way are immediately reported through the police’s ‘Smart National Report’ or ‘Safety Report’ smartphone apps. The fine for signal violations is 50,000 KRW. While not a large amount, frequent fines can add up significantly.
From July to September, 150 reports were filed.
As a result, riders who received fines began to become cautious. Messages indicating enforcement around Chungjeongno Station Exits 5 and 6 and the Hanra Vivaldi crosswalk area kept appearing, prompting riders to be more careful.
Some riders who tried to illegally cross the road even got off their motorcycles and pushed them across the crosswalk upon seeing the guardians.
Lee Hyung-chun, the Udongso Field Support Team Leader who has overseen this project from the start, said, “I often go out to the field, and while there used to be 10 violations per hour in the beginning, now it is only 1 to 2 cases. I could see with my own eyes that illegal driving by delivery riders has greatly decreased,” expressing satisfaction with Udongso’s efforts.
A business owner near Chungjeongno Station, Mr. A, said, “There used to be many delivery motorcycles roaring and crossing the sidewalks around lunchtime, but now they have definitely decreased,” showing a positive response.
Despite Udongso’s efforts, unauthorized motorcycle driving still occurs during times when the guardians are not active.
Accordingly, Jungnim-dong Udongso plans to gradually increase activity hours by deploying not only guardians but also coordinators.
Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, “Udongso serves as an apartment management office that resolves complaints in general residential areas. We will fix issues causing inconvenience to residents one by one to provide convenience comparable to that of apartments.”
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