Following the launch of the citizen-centered 'Seoul Traffic Re-Design' project led by the police, the total number of traffic accidents in Seoul has decreased.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on January 16, since the project began in November of last year, the total number of traffic accidents dropped by 4.5% compared to the same period a year earlier. Notably, drunk driving accidents decreased by 16.7%. Accidents involving personal mobility devices (PM) fell by 26.9%, and motorcycle accidents declined by 6.8%, respectively. The Seoul Traffic Re-Design Project is a traffic safety enhancement campaign promoted by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.
Additionally, between November 10 and December 31 of last year-a span of 52 days-the police received 2,315 suggestions from citizens regarding traffic inconveniences and hazards. Of these, action has already been taken on 1,198 cases (52%) deemed to require urgent improvement.
Key examples of improvements include the Gyeongin Expressway entrance intersection in Yeongdeungpo District, where structural modifications improved traffic flow speed from 10 km/h to 22.3 km/h, an increase of approximately 123%. At the intersection in front of Gaepo Hyundai 1st Apartment in Gangnam District, a notorious bottleneck, traffic signal operations were optimized to resolve the chronic issue of "blocking the intersection."
Enforcement activities were also strengthened. The police identified a total of 10,954 violations, including discourteous driving during rush hour and illegal acts involving PMs, and conducted 166 traffic safety campaigns. In particular, the police focused on cracking down on violations that drew high levels of citizen complaints, such as blocking the intersection (423 cases) and cutting in line (9,017 cases), in order to improve driving culture.
Citizens also expressed high satisfaction. According to a survey, 86% (522 out of 608 respondents) evaluated the project positively, with the main reason cited being "prompt and sincere feedback" (69%).
The police plan to address the remaining 615 citizen suggestions by categorizing them as short-term (51 cases), mid-term (144 cases), and long-term (420 cases) tasks and implementing improvements in stages.
Citizen ideas currently under review for on-site application include: ▲ differentiating the color of lines between resident-priority and general parking zones, and ▲ installing traffic signals permitting U-turns.
Park Jeongbo, Commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, stated, "The main goal is to foster a traffic culture where people can drive comfortably while being considerate of one another," adding, "Through this project, we hope to establish Seoul's traffic environment and culture as the standard for South Korea."
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