Complaints Rise as Customer Numbers and Sales Halve at Restaurants Near School Zones

Visitor Parking Inconvenience and Delivery Disruptions
'Safe Boarding Zone' Also Ineffective
Related Complaints Increase 2 to 3 Times

On the first day of the revised Road Traffic Act, which includes no-parking zones in child protection areas and mandates special traffic safety education for drivers who cause traffic accidents in these zones, students are attending school at an elementary school in Seoul on the 21st. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporters Byungdon Yoo, Minjae Kwak, Myunghwan Lee] "The number of customers coming daily has dropped from about 20 to around 10. Sales have also been cut in half."

Hansangkyung (38), who runs a Japanese restaurant near an elementary school in Jung-gu, Seoul, has been hit by the fallout from the school zone (children protection area) parking and stopping ban. Since parking became difficult near the school zone, customers stopped coming. There are also cases where delivery vehicles face difficulties because they cannot stop in the school zone. Yoon (50), a convenience store manager near an elementary school in Mapo-gu, said, "Delivery vehicles cannot stop in front of the convenience store, so we have to pull goods with a cart from 50 meters away."

Since October 21, when parking and stopping were banned on all roads within school zones, complaints about inconvenience have been increasing. A Seongbuk-gu office official said, "Complaints have tripled since the parking and stopping ban," adding, "Seongbuk-gu lacks parking spaces, and the school zones have further reduced them, causing strong resident backlash." An official from Yeongdeungpo-gu also said, "There are many school zones in the district, so parking spaces have decreased further, and related complaints have more than doubled."

As students commuting by private car face difficulties due to the school zone stopping ban, authorities introduced a Safe Drop-off/Pick-up Zone as a countermeasure. This zone allows stopping for up to 5 minutes only for student commuting vehicles. However, this is only a temporary fix.

A parent of an elementary school student in Jung-gu said, "If the 5-minute stay time in the Safe Drop-off/Pick-up Zone is exceeded, a fine is imposed," adding, "The stay time is too short, so many parents keep driving around the nearby rotary without stopping." It is also common for general vehicles, not parents' cars, to stop in the Safe Drop-off/Pick-up Zone. One parent said, "When these drivers complain to the police officers on patrol, asking 'Why can't we stop here?' there is no way to respond."

Park Jaechan, head of the Seoul Parents Association, said, "The Safe Drop-off/Pick-up Zone is very narrow, so during dismissal times, academy vehicles have no choice but to park in the school zone, causing traffic congestion," adding, "The biggest problem is that the voices of parents, who are the stakeholders, were not reflected when deciding on the school zone parking and stopping ban or the Safe Drop-off/Pick-up Zone."

Professor Park Muhyuk of the Road Traffic Authority said, "If enforcement increases without proper school zone safety facilities, drivers will inevitably break the law," adding, "In the short term, Safe Drop-off/Pick-up Zones reflecting the opinions of parents and teachers should be designated, and in the mid to long term, public parking spaces near school zones should be secured."