Caught Moving Vinyl House Materials
Overload Fine 200,000 Won... "Let's Enforce Strict Punishment"
A truck driver was caught by the police driving on the road carrying a large amount of oversized steel pipes more than twice the length of the truck.
On the 26th, the National Police Agency's Instagram posted, "While patrolling a road in Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do this month, we discovered a truck dangerously driving while carrying large steel pipes excessively protruding from the cargo bed of the truck," adding, "This was an extremely dangerous situation where the pipes could have detached from the vehicle and fallen off during reckless transportation, potentially causing a major traffic accident."
The photos released by the police showed dozens of steel pipes tied together and loaded, with lengths more than twice that of the truck’s cargo bed. Some of the pipes were bent and insecurely fixed.
The police stated, "We immediately stopped the truck (over 4 meters in height) that was driving slowly and obstructing nearby traffic, controlled the surrounding traffic, and cracked down on the overloaded vehicle."
It was investigated that the driver was transporting materials exceeding the safety standards under the Road Traffic Act while moving supplies to build a vinyl greenhouse.
According to the Road Traffic Act, the cargo weight of a truck can be loaded up to 110% of the weight specified by its structure and performance. The length can be up to 10% longer than the vehicle length. Violations may result in a fine of up to 200,000 KRW, detention, or a penalty.
The police urged, "Cargo must be securely fixed by covering or tying it to prevent any items from falling off."
Netizens who saw the photos of the overloaded vehicle reacted, saying, "This is dizzying, is this China?", "If even one falls, it will lead to a major accident," and "I get scared every time an overloaded vehicle passes by. Strong crackdowns on overloaded vehicles are necessary."
Meanwhile, as the operation of large freight vehicles increases due to various construction projects, it was reported that last year alone, 2,891 overloaded vehicles were caught in Seoul, and fines totaling 980 million KRW were imposed.
Seoul City will conduct intensive crackdowns on overloaded vehicles throughout the day this month at major city points with many overloaded vehicles, such as large construction sites, and on bridges including the Han River and general bridges. A total of 116 overload inspectors from six road offices in Seoul will participate in the crackdown.
Vehicles caught during the crackdown will be fined up to 3 million KRW depending on the violation and frequency, and drivers who violate obligations such as obstructing cargo weight measurement will face imprisonment of up to one year or fines up to 10 million KRW.
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