Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Private Rental Companies Sign Business Agreement
The government and private companies are joining forces to strengthen the safety management of personal mobility devices. A pilot project will be conducted to reduce the maximum driving speed by about 5 km/h from the current level, and future legal amendments will also be considered.
On the 8th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety signed a 'Business Agreement to Strengthen Safety Management of Personal Mobility Devices' with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the National Police Agency, the Korea Road Traffic Authority, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, 10 personal mobility device rental companies, and the Central Council for the Promotion of Safety Culture Movement. The 10 participating private companies are ▲The Swing ▲G-Bike ▲Beam Mobility Korea ▲Ollulo ▲PUMP ▲Dear Corporation ▲Alpha Mobility ▲Dart Sharing ▲Flying ▲Digeutida.
The government recognized the need to strengthen safety management as the number of accidents and fatalities involving personal mobility devices has been increasing recently, while many users fail to follow safety rules. According to the Road Traffic Authority’s traffic accident analysis system, the number of accidents over the past five years increased from 447 cases in 2019 to 2,389 cases in 2023. There were 24 fatalities last year.
The participating organizations in this agreement have decided to focus on lowering the maximum speed, intensifying crackdowns on safety rule violations, and strengthening user education.
First, to prevent accidents involving personal mobility devices, a pilot operation project will be conducted to limit the maximum speed of personal mobility devices to 20 km/h. Although the current legal maximum speed is 25 km/h, analysis shows that reducing the speed to 20 km/h decreases stopping distance by 26% and impact force by 36%. The pilot operation will involve 10 rental companies and will be conducted from this month until the end of the year in major cities nationwide, including Seoul and Busan. The government plans to verify the effects of lowering the maximum speed through the pilot project and, if confirmed, will consider revising related laws.
From this month until September, there will be an intensive crackdown on violations of personal mobility device safety rules. Led by the National Police Agency, major violations such as not wearing helmets, unlicensed driving, driving on prohibited roads, and carrying more than one person will be subject to a two-week public guidance and promotion period starting on the 15th, followed by a two-month intensive crackdown from August to September.
Education for the main user group of personal mobility devices, people in their teens and twenties, will also be strengthened. Together with the Korea Road Traffic Authority and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, education programs that can be physically experienced will be expanded by visiting middle schools, high schools, and universities directly.
Promotion of safety rules will also be enhanced. Various media such as electronic billboards, convenience store monitors, and KTX train cabin monitors will be utilized, and campaigns will be conducted focusing on universities and parks where personal mobility device usage is high.
Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min said, "The government will continue to improve the safety management system by working together with the private sector so that personal mobility devices can establish themselves as a safe next-generation transportation means."
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