Since 2021, Stop Campaign Implemented for Children's Traffic Safety and Clean Road Environment
SK Gas Co., Ltd. will continue to conduct campaigns this year to create an eco-friendly road environment and ensure children's traffic safety.
SK Gas, the Korea Road Traffic Authority, and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority have once again joined hands this year, following last year, to reduce accidents related to children's school buses and protect children's traffic safety by improving driver awareness through the "Stop Campaign."
The Stop Campaign is conducted under the theme of three "stops": 'Driver Stop, Child Stop, Fine Dust Stop.' ▲Driver Stop refers to stopping surrounding vehicles when a school bus is stopped, in accordance with Article 51 of the Road Traffic Act (Special Protection for Children's School Buses). ▲Child Stop means waiting until children get off the school bus and the vehicle departs. ▲Fine Dust Stop is a campaign to switch children's school buses to eco-friendly LPG vehicles to reduce fine dust and protect children's health, in accordance with Article 28 of the Special Act on Air Quality Improvement in Air Control Zones, which has been enforced since January 1 of this year.
To further promote the meaning of the Stop Campaign, SK Gas has been working with the Korea Road Traffic Authority and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority since 2021 to establish safe bus stops for children as part of the campaign. As a result, 6 locations were installed in Gyeonggi Province in 2021, followed by 10 locations in 2022, 13 locations in 2023, and 4 locations in 2024, totaling 33 safe bus stops operated over four years.
According to the Traffic Accident Analysis System (TAAS) of the Korea Road Traffic Authority, most child traffic accidents occur between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. during school dismissal hours, with the highest number of casualties among lower-grade elementary school students. One of the causes of accidents is children crossing immediately after getting off the bus or drivers not stopping around the children's school bus. SK Gas expects that if 'Driver Stop' and 'Child Stop' are properly observed through the Stop Campaign, child traffic accidents can be minimized.
Park Chan-il, Head of Eco Energy Division at SK Gas, said, "As a company supplying LPG, the main fuel for children's school buses, we have been steadily conducting the Stop Campaign for four years since 2021 with a sense of responsibility for creating an eco-friendly road environment and ensuring children's safety." He added, "We will continue to make efforts to protect children's safety and maintain a clean road environment."
Seo Beom-gyu, Acting President of the Korea Road Traffic Authority, stated, "Preventing child traffic accidents requires the interest and efforts of not only drivers and children but also the entire nation." He added, "As a specialized road traffic safety organization, we will do our best to ensure that places where children are safe from traffic accidents, including the Stop Campaign in cooperation with SK Gas and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority."
Kwon Yong-bok, President of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, said, "Roads within apartment complexes are outside the road zones managed by the state and lack safety facilities compared to national roads, making children and pedestrians more vulnerable to traffic accidents." He added, "The Authority will actively cooperate in discovering and promoting projects that prioritize children and pedestrians without distinction between private and public sectors such as SK Gas and the Korea Road Traffic Authority, to create a safe environment free from traffic accidents."
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