| A man rides an electric scooter on a road in Seoul in this 2019 file photo. / Korea Times file |
By Lee Hyo-jin
Eased regulations on electric scooters, which will go into effect from December, are feared to lead to more personal mobility device (PMD) related accidents, according to three Seoul residents, one of who is an E-scooter rider herself.
In May, the National Assembly passed the revised Road Traffic Law in a bid to improve public accessibility to smart mobility. E-scooters will be categorized as personal mobility devices and riders will be subject to the same traffic regulations as bicycles.
Anyone above the age of 13, even without a driver's license will be allowed to ride e-scooters. It is currently only available to those over 16 years old, possessing a driver's license, as the devices falls under the category of low engine capacity 2-wheeled vehicles.
"It seems ridiculous to let unlicensed minors who lack fundamental knowledge about traffic rules ride on the roads. I've recently seen two teenagers in my neighborhood sharing one scooter and dangerously driving above the speed limit (25km/h)," said a resident in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul.
Wearing helmets will remain mandatory.
When an e-scooter rider is caught riding under the influence of alcohol, they will face the same fine as bicyclists ― 30,000 won.
E-scooter riders can also use bicycle paths as well as the curbside lane on roads.
"I don't understand why the law sees e-scooters as equivalent to bicycles, considering the big difference in speed and weight. If a scooter hits a person on a bike, the latter will obviously get more seriously injured," said a housewife surnamed Park in Seoul
An office worker surnamed Bang, who frequently uses e-scooters for her commute said, "What we need are practical safety measures such as insurance policies, or unified rules on e-scooter free-zones which differ by districts."
Electric scooters, an innovative eco-friendly form of transport, have gained increasing popularity in Korea since the sharing platform was publicly commercialized in 2018.
More than 35,000 devices are deployed by 16 operators in the capital area as of Aug. 31, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government. It seems that the micro-mobility industry will only get bigger. The country will be flooded by approximately 220,000 e-scooters by 2022, estimates the Korea Transport Institute.
But due to a lack of specific safety measures and controls, the number of personal mobility device-related traffic accidents have surged over the past three years.
The number has shown a two-fold increase annually since 2017, with 447 cases in 2019, according to the Korea Road Traffic Authority.
Several crashes resulted in death. A man in his 30s was hit and killed by a car while riding an e-scooter in Busan in April. A total of eight people died in similar accidents involving these devices in 2019.