"Rear Lights Covered with Blue Tape 'Dukji Dukji'... Is It Safe to Drive on the Road?"

Netizens: "Is this the Blue Tape Edition?"

A car was spotted driving on the road with its taillights covered in blue tape.

On the 29th of last month, an online community called 'BobaeDream' posted an article titled "I've never seen a car like this in my life." The author wrote, "Is it even possible to drive like this?" and "The more I see it, the more amazing it is," along with a photo. The revealed photo showed a The New Korando Sports with a dented rear driving on the road. Notably, both taillights were covered with blue tape.

Netizens who saw the photo responded with various comments such as "Blue Tape Edition?" "Please report it for poor maintenance," "You shouldn't drive like that. It also causes safety issues," "You can tell the driver's personality just by looking at the car," and "Fix it quickly before driving."

A car driving on the road with its taillights covered with blue tape. [Image source=Online community 'BobaeDream']

Among these, there are also criticisms that the vehicle's taillights do not meet safety standards and thus qualify as an illegal vehicle. Article 29, Paragraph 1 of the Automobile Management Act states, "A vehicle shall not be operated if its structure and devices, as prescribed by Presidential Decree, do not meet the performance and standards necessary for safe operation." In other words, damage or covering of license plates, illegal modification of mufflers or headlights, and other violations of safety standards can result in criminal penalties or administrative sanctions under the Automobile Management Act.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport detected a total of 337,000 illegal vehicles last year. This is an 18.7% increase compared to the previous year (284,461 vehicles). In particular, violations that increased included safety standard violations such as failure to attach reflective materials on the rear of cargo trucks (up 30.5%), illegal motorcycles (up 28%), and illegal tuning (up 20.1%).

Based on last year's crackdown results, the Ministry imposed measures such as license plate confiscation (119,369 cases), fines (24,974 cases), and prosecutions (5,010 cases). Since April last year, the 'Safety Report' application (app), which added a simple illegal vehicle reporting function, has also enabled active reporting of illegal vehicles by ordinary citizens.