Seoul City Focuses on Safety in Protection Zones for Children and Other Traffic-Vulnerable Groups

Selected Four Core Areas of Protected Zones with Annual Investment of 48.5 Billion KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] On the 22nd, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced the '2023 Seoul Comprehensive Management Plan for Protection Zones' to create a 'Seoul-type protection zone where children, the elderly, and disabled traffic-vulnerable groups can all travel safely and conveniently.' The city will focus on creating pedestrian spaces where traffic-vulnerable groups can walk safely to enhance their walking convenience and establish standards for on-site customized protection zone management measures.

Traffic-vulnerable pedestrian accidents mainly occur during daytime while crossing roads, and most fatal accidents in child protection zones happened on side roads where sidewalks and roadways are not separated.

This comprehensive management plan selects four key areas: ▲ physical separation of vehicles and pedestrians through the creation of walkways, ▲expansion of crosswalk safety facilities to improve visibility, ▲establishment of a dense monitoring system to minimize speeding and illegal parking, ▲expansion and operational efficiency of protection zones, with about 48.5 billion KRW invested annually across 10 detailed tasks.

Yoon Jong-jang, Director of Urban Transportation at Seoul City, stated, “We will focus on improving roads where pedestrians and vehicles coexist to create a Seoul-type protection zone where traffic-vulnerable groups can travel conveniently and safely.” He added, “We ask drivers to pay especially close attention within designated protection zones for traffic-vulnerable groups.”