Dog Hit While Walking With Owner on Sidewalk
Police Consider Charges Including Violation of Road Traffic Act
The police have launched an investigation after an electric scooter, driven by a middle school student without a license, collided with a dog that was out for a walk with its owner.
According to the Michuhol Police Station in Incheon on October 29, a dog owner reported that, at around 8 p.m. on October 27 in Michuhol District, Incheon, an electric scooter driven by a middle school student, referred to as "A," struck a dog that was walking on the sidewalk. The dog, which was seriously injured in the accident, was immediately taken to a nearby animal hospital for treatment.
Under the Road Traffic Act, a person must possess at least a Class 2 motorized bicycle license, which can only be obtained from the age of 16, to operate an electric scooter. However, student A had not yet reached the required age. Under current law, operating an electric scooter without a license carries a fine of 100,000 won.
The police plan to question both the dog owner and student A, and will consider whether charges such as violations of the Road Traffic Act can be applied. A police official stated, "When a pet is injured in an accident, it is considered property damage, so we will review which charges are appropriate after the investigation."
Recently, there has been a series of accidents involving minors operating electric scooters without a license. On October 18, in Seo District, Incheon, a woman in her 30s was critically injured while trying to protect her daughter from an oncoming electric scooter driven by two unlicensed middle school students.
The number of cases involving unlicensed operation of personal mobility devices (PM), such as electric scooters, rose from 7,164 in 2021 to 35,382 last year-a fivefold increase over three years. Of these, unlicensed driving by those aged 19 or younger accounted for 55.1% of the total. In addition, out of 147 hit-and-run cases involving PMs, 82 cases (55.8%) were committed by teenagers.
Although accidents involving unlicensed electric scooter use by teenagers are on the rise, there are concerns that scooter rental companies are not properly verifying whether users hold a valid license. Some companies have license verification procedures, but features such as "certify later" effectively allow users to bypass the requirement. It is also reported that many users rent scooters easily by registering with a family member's ID, such as that of a parent or sibling, without undergoing any additional verification.
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