Traffic Accident Rate Down 57%... Additional Traffic Safety Experience Education Center Established in Iksan, Jeonbuk

Source: Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

The third Traffic Safety Experience Education Center, newly established for the Chungcheong and Jeolla regions, will be located in Iksan City, Jeonbuk.

Traffic safety experience education moves away from theory-centered instruction by having drivers actually ride in vehicles to directly experience the limits of cars and drivers in dangerous situations such as not wearing seat belts, rainy roads, and icy roads. This education aims to raise drivers' awareness of accident risks on their own.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority announced on the 28th that Iksan City, Jeonbuk, was selected as the preferred negotiation local government for the construction site of the Traffic Safety Experience Education Center in the Chungcheong and Jeolla regions.

From June to July, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport invited local governments in the Chungcheong and Jeolla regions to apply for the construction site of the Traffic Safety Experience Education Center. Two local governments (Iksan City, Jeonbuk, and Gangjin County, Jeonnam) applied. The site evaluation committee, composed of external experts, reviewed the proposals submitted by the local governments and conducted on-site inspections, ultimately selecting Iksan City as the preferred negotiation local government.

The third Traffic Safety Experience Education Center is planned to be newly established on a site of 166,000㎡ (approximately 50,000 pyeong) in Iksan City, Jeonbuk. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, and Iksan City will finalize the project site after negotiating detailed matters based on the project proposal submitted by Iksan City, including site usage conditions and support status.

The number of trainees wishing to receive experience education has been increasing every year. The number of trainees was about 4,000 in 2009, increased to about 63,000 last year, and is expected to reach about 100,000 by around 2025. Due to the insufficient capacity of the existing Traffic Safety Experience Education Centers (Sangju, Hwaseong), the need for additional education centers has been steadily raised.

Meanwhile, comparing traffic accidents one year before and after the completion of education for 31,707 active commercial vehicle drivers, accidents decreased by approximately 56.8% (from 3,736 cases to 1,614 cases). In contrast, the group that did not receive education showed an 11.9% decrease (from 42,401 cases to 37,346 cases), indicating that the effect of experience education is very significant.