Distribution of Blind Spot Warning Stickers on City-Owned and Private Cargo Trucks Starting Mid-April
Stickers Distributed at 6 Vehicle Inspection Centers by Korea Transportation Safety Authority... Distribution Also Conducted During Traffic Law Enforcement by Jurisdictional Police Stations
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 13th, Seoul City and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority announced that, together with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Cargo Welfare Foundation, they will intensively carry out a traffic safety campaign to raise awareness of the 'blind spots' of large cargo trucks operating in Seoul by attaching 'Beware of Blind Spots' stickers to these vehicles.
This campaign is being promoted as a preemptive measure to prepare for the strengthening of pedestrian protection obligations under the revised Road Traffic Act starting in July, amid an increase in traffic accident fatalities involving cargo trucks due to the expansion of non-face-to-face transactions caused by the spread of COVID-19. Last year, the number of traffic accident deaths caused by cargo trucks in Seoul was 21, a significant increase compared to 10 in 2020.
As part of the campaign, the 'Beware of Blind Spots' stickers attached to cargo trucks will be placed on one side of the rear to guide following vehicles, and one side each on the exterior sides of the driver's and passenger's seats to alert approaching vehicles and the cargo truck drivers themselves.
From mid-April, Seoul City and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority plan to distribute and attach the 'Beware of Blind Spots' stickers to 6,000 cargo trucks in Seoul, including those under the city's jurisdiction. Priority will be given to attaching stickers to 226 cargo trucks owned by city road business offices and approximately 1,000 vehicles from large logistics companies such as CJ Logistics.
The Korea Transportation Safety Authority will distribute the 'Beware of Blind Spots' stickers at six vehicle inspection centers within Seoul: Seongsan Vehicle Inspection Center (Seongsan-dong, Mapo-gu), Sangam Vehicle Inspection Center (Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu), Guro Vehicle Inspection Center (Oryu-dong, Guro-gu), Nowon Vehicle Inspection Center (Hagye-dong, Nowon-gu), Gangnam Vehicle Inspection Center (Yulhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu), and Seongdong Vehicle Inspection Center (Songjeong-dong, Seongdong-gu). For more details, inquiries can be made to the Seoul Headquarters of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority.
Since April, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has been conducting focused guidance and enforcement to prevent blind spot traffic accidents, such as right turns at intersections and signal violations, and will also distribute the 'Beware of Blind Spots' stickers concurrently. According to experiments by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, blind spots in cargo trucks are wider than those in regular passenger cars, and there are front blind spots of 1 to 2 meters that do not exist in passenger cars, making them vulnerable to traffic accidents.
Kang Jin-dong, Director of Traffic Operations at Seoul City, stated, “France, a leading country in traffic safety, has mandated the attachment of blind spot warning signs on all large vehicles over 3.5 tons since last year.” He added, “Following cargo trucks, the city plans to encourage participation in the campaign by related organizations for other vehicle types with high blind spot traffic accident risks, such as buses and dump trucks used in construction machinery. In the long term, we are considering attaching devices to large vehicles that automatically detect pedestrians and alert drivers.”
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