Seongdong-gu Sees 21.5% Decrease in Traffic Accidents After Installing Smart Crosswalks

[Seoul District News] Seongdong-gu, 100% Decrease in Deaths and 46.4% Decrease in Serious Injuries Compared to Before Smart Crosswalk Installation; Spread as Best Practice to Central Government, Seoul City, and Nationwide Local Governments... Gwanak-gu Inspects 387 Major Disaster Prevention Facilities and Vulnerable Areas, 79 Life-Threatening Areas for Flood and Wind Damage Preparedness... Yangcheon-gu Recruits Additional Residents for ‘Sinjeong-dong Customized Community Housing’

Wangsimni Five-way Intersection Smart Crosswalk

Safety Accident Impact Analysis

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced that the number of pedestrian traffic accidents has decreased by more than 21.5% since the installation of smart crosswalks.

This result comes from an analysis by the Road Traffic Authority's Traffic Accident Analysis System (TASS) of 14 smart crosswalk installation sites (within a 100m radius) installed by the district in 2019, comparing the number of accidents in 2020 with the three-year average before installation.

Seongdong-gu analyzed that the visibility of vehicles during day and night improved after the installation of smart crosswalks, and the number of vehicles violating the stop line decreased, which led to a tangible reduction in traffic accidents.

Looking at the number of accidents by injury type, compared to the three-year average before the installation of smart crosswalks, in 2020 the number of fatalities decreased by 100%, serious injuries by 46.4%, and minor injuries by 12.9%, indicating that smart crosswalks effectively reduce the risk of pedestrian traffic accidents.

In particular, the number of vehicle-to-pedestrian traffic accidents near Wangsimni Station Exit 4 and Hanyang Market, where pedestrian traffic is heavy, decreased by 60% and 71.4%, respectively. Since 2019, there have been no pedestrian fatalities at smart crosswalk installation sites.

Seongdong-gu’s 'Smart Crosswalk,' first introduced nationwide in 2019, is an innovative crosswalk that integrates eight smart technologies including focused lighting, automatic vehicle number recognition, voice guidance for pedestrian signals, and ground signals. Especially, the ground signals and voice guidance help pedestrians cross safely, while stop line violation warnings and focused lighting alert drivers to pay attention, focusing on preventing pedestrian traffic accidents.

The smart crosswalk installation locations include crosswalks in child protection zones, school routes with high accident risk, and crosswalks with heavy pedestrian use identified through Seongdong-type public big data analysis. Currently, 78 sites are installed and operational within Seongdong-gu.

Initial surveys in 2019 showed an 83.4% decrease in stop line violations, and 88.4% of respondents said it helped prevent traffic accidents, proving its effectiveness from the start. According to the Road Traffic Authority’s accident analysis system, the number of pedestrian accidents in 2019 was 225, the lowest among Seoul’s 25 districts.

Additionally, the smart crosswalk has been introduced as a best practice by central government ministries and local governments nationwide, winning awards such as the '2020 Seoul Creativity Award' and being selected as an excellent case at the Regional Balanced New Deal Metropolitan Forum. In 2021, it received the Prime Minister’s Award at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s ‘Children’s Safety Awards’ for examples including the smart crosswalk.

Since 2019, Seongdong-gu has built and utilized Seongdong-type big data for the safety of all elementary school routes by analyzing over 6,300 objective traffic accident data points and subjective data on accident-prone areas collected from students and parents. For school routes without crosswalks, a smart school zone system has been installed and operated to reduce vehicle speed and enforce speed limits.

Furthermore, a smartphone blocking system has been piloted at crosswalks in front of elementary school gates, warning pedestrians to refrain from using phones through voice and vibration when entering the crosswalk, promoting a pioneering and innovative smart traffic safety model to enhance school route safety.

Mayor Jung Won-oh of Seongdong-gu said, "I feel proud that the smart crosswalk, which started in Seongdong-gu, has spread as an excellent case both domestically and internationally to central ministries and local governments. Especially, the continuous decrease in traffic accidents is a very meaningful achievement. We will continue to do our best to create a smart traffic city that protects the daily lives of residents safely and intelligently, including the safety of children commuting to school."

Inspection of Seoul National University Beodeulgol Detention Basin

Gwanak-gu has completed pre-inspections of flood control facilities and flood-vulnerable facilities to safely protect residents' lives and property from heavy rains and typhoons.

Due to the district’s geographical characteristics with many low-lying areas and the presence of Byeolbitnaerin Stream, there is a risk of flooding during heavy rains. By April, the district inspected major disaster prevention facilities such as detention basins and rainwater pumping stations and took preemptive measures for any deficiencies.

Additionally, a comprehensive survey was conducted on 387 flood-vulnerable sites and facilities including construction sites, slope facilities, rivers, and protruding structures, as well as 79 areas at risk of landslides and steep slopes where human casualties could occur. All 137 identified issues were addressed.

To secure drainage capacity on main and side roads, dredging is being carried out on 26,177 rainwater inlets installed throughout the district before the rainy season. Continuous cleaning is also performed in areas with dense pedestrian traffic, habitual illegal dumping sites, and around subway stations.

Each neighborhood office is thoroughly preventing flood damage by managing rainwater inlets and removing illegally installed covers.

Furthermore, focused management is conducted for households in flood-prone areas such as low-lying underground homes. For 138 priority households, care officials from the district office are matched 1:1 to provide weather updates via phone and visit the site during emergencies as part of a care service.

A district official stated, "Flood and typhoon safety accidents often lead to large-scale damage, so preemptive preparation is crucial. We will do our best to prevent loss of life and property from floods and typhoons through proactive response systems and active flood control administration."

Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) announced that it is recruiting young adults and newlyweds to move into the ‘Sinjeong-dong Customized Community Housing’ by May 20.

The customized community housing (Sinjeong-dong 939-18 and three other locations) in Sinjeong 4-dong is supplied through cooperation between Yangcheon-gu and Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation. It was created to alleviate housing insecurity for young adults and newlyweds who face difficulties due to employment and rental market challenges.

Applicants must be non-homeowners registered as residents in Seoul as of the announcement date (April 29). For youth housing, applicants should be unmarried job seekers or early-career workers aged 19 to 39. For newlywed households, applicants must be couples married within seven years (April 30, 2015 to April 29, 2022) or prospective newlyweds.

The income criterion is households earning 70% or less of the previous year’s average monthly urban worker income. The additional recruitment is for a total of 10 households: 5 youth households and 5 newlywed households.

Those wishing to apply should refer to the public notice board on the district office website, fill out the application form by hand, scan it, and submit it via email to the housing department by May 20.

The district will review applicants and select the final residents by August, followed by sequential signing of lease contracts.

For more details about the additional recruitment for Sinjeong-dong Customized Community Housing, contact the housing department.

A housing department official said, "We are recruiting additional residents for Sinjeong-dong Customized Community Housing to alleviate housing insecurity, and we hope many interested people apply. We will continue to expand customized housing welfare projects focused on actual demand."