Jung Joon-ho "Rider Traffic Safety Education Must Be Mandatory"

Serious Traffic Law Violations by Delivery Motorcycles
Urgent Need to Strengthen Legal Responsibility of Platform Companies

Assemblyman Jeong Junho

There are concerns that the traffic safety education performance for delivery riders conducted by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority is poor, and effective measures need to be established.

According to the National Assembly inspection data submitted by Jeong Junho, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea representing Gwangju Buk-gu Gap, the Authority has been conducting traffic safety education for delivery riders since signing an agreement on April 30 with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the National Police Agency, and delivery platform companies (Baemin, Coupang Eats, Yogiyo, etc.). However, unlike Yogiyo, which actively encourages new riders to participate in the education, Baemin and Coupang Eats do not promote it, and it has been confirmed that neither platform has had a single rider participate in the training.

A bigger problem is that delivery platforms do not disclose the number of newly hired riders, causing difficulties in estimating the number of participants for the education. Additionally, the current education is not legally mandatory, so it relies solely on voluntary participation by the companies. As a result, the participation rate in the education is extremely low.

Meanwhile, according to a 2024 survey by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, 94.8% of the public responded that traffic violations by delivery motorcycles are serious. This indicates that as delivery motorcycles have become commonplace, they threaten the safety not only of delivery riders but also of general road users. This is why there are calls for strengthening systematic safety education for riders to reduce delivery rider accidents and change public perception.

Assemblyman Jeong emphasized, “To reduce delivery rider accidents, we cannot rely solely on voluntary participation,” adding, “Traffic safety education for riders should be designated as legally mandatory education, and legal measures should be established to hold platform companies practically responsible for accidents.”