[2024 National Audit] Signal Violations and Speeding... Min Hong-cheol: "1.6 Million Motorcycle Traffic Violations in 5 Years"

"Over 97,000 Traffic Accidents"
"More than 25,000 Casualties"

Over the past five years, violations of traffic regulations by two-wheeled vehicles such as motorcycles have exceeded 1.6 million cases, with an average of more than 25,000 casualties confirmed.

In July, a motorcycle delivery worker was making a delivery on Hongdae Street in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Min Hong-cheol, a member of the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the total number of two-wheeled vehicle traffic accidents over the past five years (2019?2023) was 97,616, resulting in 2,358 deaths and 125,266 injuries.

By year, the figures are as follows: 20,898 cases in 2019 (498 deaths, 26,514 injuries), 21,258 cases in 2020 (525 deaths, 27,348 injuries), 20,598 cases in 2021 (459 deaths, 26,617 injuries), 18,295 cases in 2022 (484 deaths, 23,469 injuries), and 16,567 cases in 2023 (392 deaths, 21,318 injuries).

By type of accident cause, failure to drive safely was the most common with 51,114 cases, followed by signal violations with 20,093 cases, failure to maintain a safe distance with 6,516 cases, violation of intersection traffic rules with 4,828 cases, crossing the center line with 4,144 cases, failure to protect pedestrians with 2,357 cases, speeding with 723 cases, and others with 8,353 cases.

Analysis of two-wheeled vehicle enforcement by type of traffic violation revealed that the most frequently detected case was ‘failure to wear protective gear,’ totaling 691,403 cases over the past five years. This was followed by signal violations with 334,478 cases, walking on sidewalks with 78,282 cases, crossing the center line with 36,174 cases, and violation of safe driving obligations with 17,942 cases.

Min Hong-chul, member of the Democratic Party of Korea. [Photo by Min's Office]

Assemblyman Min emphasized, “Due to their structure, two-wheeled vehicles have lower driving stability compared to passenger cars, making them vulnerable to traffic accidents. When accidents occur, the body is exposed externally, increasing the likelihood of serious injuries,” and added, “We must take thorough measures to prevent two-wheeled vehicle accidents and traffic law violations to ensure public safety.”