Operation of Personal Mobility Device 'Parking Penalty Zone'... Incheon City Establishes Safety Accident Prevention Measures

Incheon City is implementing a comprehensive plan to prevent safety accidents, including operating a 'Parking Penalty Zone' for personal mobility devices (PM) such as electric scooters.

Personal mobility devices are increasingly used as a means of short-distance transportation, leading to a surge in users. However, due to unclear regulations, managing rental companies is challenging, and the rate of safety accidents caused by unauthorized parking and traffic law violations is rising, becoming a social issue. Accordingly, Incheon City has established a comprehensive safety management plan for personal mobility devices through discussions with related organizations such as the Office of Education and shared PM rental companies.

First, to promote a proper usage culture, the city plans to strengthen safety use promotion and education through a public-private cooperation system, including the Kickboard Safety Use Challenge and distribution of online educational videos.

Additionally, the city will operate a 'Parking Penalty Zone' where returns are not allowed in no-parking areas to prevent unauthorized device abandonment. It will also form 'Electric Kickboard Supporters,' mainly composed of exemplary drivers' associations and volunteers, to relocate devices left on sidewalks and contribute to creating a pleasant pedestrian environment. Furthermore, if complaints about unauthorized parking are received, the city plans to tow the devices. The towing zones will be divided into 'Immediate Towing Zones' and 'General Towing Zones,' and if the rental company does not take action within the designated time after a complaint, the device will be towed and towing and storage fees will be charged.

Incheon City is also collaborating with LG Electronics to pilot an 'Eco-friendly Smart Personal Mobility Device Station' project. It plans to establish 100 wireless charging docking zones in the region, where users will receive reward points regardless of usage when docking their devices, encouraging citizens to adopt proper parking culture.

Electric scooter

To create a safe usage environment, the city has prepared institutional improvement measures alongside guidance and enforcement. Under the current Road Traffic Act, only those with a motorized vehicle license or higher can operate personal mobility devices, but most rental companies do not require separate license verification when renting devices. Therefore, Incheon City will mandate rental companies to verify operator qualifications within the year and impose penalties on companies that fail to comply.

Although fines are imposed for not wearing helmets, helmet-wearing rates remain very low. In fact, shared PM rental companies in Incheon provided helmets, but over 90% were damaged or lost within a month, leading to their recall. The city judges that imposing fines is not a practical safety management measure and is reviewing effective alternatives such as lowering speed limits based on accident rates by speed.

An Incheon City official stated, "As the use of personal mobility devices increases and safety becomes a social issue, we have prepared a plan for mutual growth through public-private cooperation," and added, "We ask for active cooperation from citizens to spread a proper usage culture and establish safe parking order."