Making 'License Verification' Mandatory When Renting Electric Kickboards

To Completely Prevent Unlicensed Driving
Promotion of Legislation for the 'Personal Mobility Device Safety Act'

As traffic accidents involving electric scooters among teenagers increase, the government has decided to strengthen regulations on Personal Mobility (PM) companies. The aim is to minimize unlicensed accidents by making it mandatory to verify users' license ownership. Since it is difficult to supervise personal mobility devices under the current Road Traffic Act, the government plans to enact a new law called the "Act on the Promotion of Safe Use of Personal Mobility Devices" (tentative name).

According to related ministries on the 24th, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the National Police Agency are discussing the enactment of the "Act on the Promotion of Safe Use of Personal Mobility Devices." This is a follow-up measure to the "Plan to Improve Convenience Services" announced by the Ministry of Economy and Finance last month. At that time, the government recognized the need for regulations due to the rapid increase in the use of personal mobility devices, including electric scooters, and stated that it is working on legislation in cooperation with personal mobility device operators through a public-private consultative body.

The core of the government’s measures is to impose an obligation on companies providing personal mobility device services, such as electric scooters, to verify users' licenses. This is to restrict reckless use of electric scooters by teenagers. According to the current Road Traffic Act, personal mobility devices powered by electricity can only be operated by those who have at least a Class 2 Motorized Bicycle license, which can be obtained from age 16, but rental companies are not obligated to verify licenses.

A government official explained, “Currently, the Road Traffic Act applies to personal mobility devices such as electric scooters, but the Road Traffic Act is a general regulation for drivers,” adding, “There are no separate obligations for businesses renting out scooters.” This means that although a license is required to use scooters under the Road Traffic Act, the actual system allows unlicensed driving. Most companies provide services that allow immediate rental if users without a license choose ‘verify later.’ This is why teenagers without licenses can operate scooters.

With regulations effectively not functioning, accidents involving minors on scooters are increasing daily. According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Jin Sun-mi, a member of the National Assembly’s Education Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, traffic accidents involving minors using personal mobility devices were only 39 cases in 2019 but increased exponentially each year to 151 in 2020, 455 in 2021, and 955 in 2022. Fatalities also increased annually from 1 in 2020 to 2 and then 3.

Another government official emphasized, “The reason a license is required is to ensure that the user has at least a minimum sense of appropriate and safe speed,” and added, “Requiring license verification is the only way to reduce accidents even slightly.”