"Almost Had a Car Accident" This Winter, 'Pothole Complaints' Increased 5.8 Times

“The road towards ○○ direction is very dangerous. In places where snow has accumulated in potholes, the depth is hard to gauge, and I have witnessed some harrowing scenes while trying to avoid them. I hope more attention can be given to such hazardous spots. Please respond promptly.”

A pothole has formed on a road in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

This winter, complaints about potholes on road surfaces have increased more than 5.8 times compared to the same period last year due to increased precipitation.

On the 23rd, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission analyzed 52,262 pothole-related complaints collected in the complaint analysis system for January and February over the past two years and confirmed that pothole complaints are concentrated in January-February and July-August.

By complaint type, they are divided into road usage inconvenience and compensation requests, with road inconvenience reports such as pothole repair requests and requests for changes in repair methods accounting for 90.2%, the majority. Most were simple reports specifying locations and requesting road repairs. The contents included reports of dangerous situations and repair requests, requests for re-repair and changes in repair methods, identification of pothole causes and proposals for solutions, and demands for improvements in the reporting procedures.

The Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission proposed establishing a collaborative system among related organizations such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Korea Expressway Corporation, and Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology to reduce pothole damage, as well as improvement plans for damage reporting and compensation procedures.

Kim Tae-gyu, Vice Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, said, “Since potholes are directly related to public safety and also cause financial losses, I hope that the voices of the people will be reflected in policy improvements to create a safer road environment. We will continue to actively respond to various social issues by utilizing big data analysis of complaints and do our best to alleviate the inconveniences of the public.”