Subscribe
E-Paper
The number of accidents involving personal transportation methods, such as electric scooters and kickboards, has been on the rise, government data showed, Sunday.
Many of the accidents were caused by hitting obstacles on uneven roads, so the police are requesting relevant government organizations to improve manufacturing standards of the devices.
 |
| An electric scooter is parked on a sidewalk in front of Seolleung Station in Seoul in this May photo. /Korea Times file |
Among them, eight accidents caused death, while drivers or pedestrians were seriously injured in 110 cases and sustained minor injuries in 171.
Of the fatal accidents, five involved wiping out on bumpy roads or other road obstacles.
In the other three cases, one user of an electric scooter died after colliding with a truck; another electric kickboard rider died from a head-on collision with a truck that violated a traffic signal; and a pedestrian was killed by an electric scooter rider who ran a traffic light.
Among the 110 cases resulting in serious injuries requiring over three weeks to recover, 59 were caused by collisions between the users of the transportation methods and other vehicles, 30 were by collisions between the users and pedestrians, and 21 did not involve other vehicles or pedestrians but occurred as a result of the users' mistake or falling.
Based on these figures, the police found that 14.3 percent of accidents involving personal electric transportation did not involve other vehicles or pedestrians, which is higher than the ratio of such accidents involving motorcycles, 11.6 percent, and bicycles, 4.9 percent.
Most such accidents were caused by the users' inexperience or due to poor road conditions, they concluded.
So the Korean National Police Agency recently requested the transport ministry to rapidly modify regulations on those vehicles' manufacturing criteria.
"There needs clear standards for the size of wheels and handles as well as the performance of the brake system, which are strong enough so the users won't lose balance on bumpy roads," a police official from the agency said.
"As the police requested, the transport ministry should strengthen the manufacturing standards for such devices as soon as possible. It also has to educate users to wear safety equipment," Rep. An said in a statement.
Under Korean traffic laws, personal vehicles such as electric kickboards and one-wheel electric scooters are classified as motorbikes. Those who wish to use electric vehicles must possess a driver's license and wear a helmet. However, such regulations are not being followed properly.
According to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, 87.4 percent of electric scooter users who experienced accidents from 2016 to 2018 said they were not wearing a helmet when the accidents took place.
