Jeonnam Province Traffic Accident Deaths Drop to 200s for the First Time Since 1977

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] It has been revealed that the number of traffic accident fatalities in Jeonnam Province has dropped to the 200s for the first time since 1977.

According to Jeonnam Province on the 7th, the total number of traffic accident fatalities last year was 292, including 177 elderly people, 90 pedestrians, 23 drunk drivers, and 2 others.

Since Governor Kim Young-rok took office in 2018, the province has been focusing on the policy of "halving the number of traffic accident fatalities" by 2022 to protect the precious lives of its residents from traffic accidents. The goal is to reduce the number of fatalities from 387 in 2017 to 185 (52%) by 2022.

Accordingly, the province operates the Namdo Safety School, which visits senior centers and village halls directly to educate elderly traffic-vulnerable groups.

To expand citizen participation, the province is strengthening promotions using street busking, relay campaigns by heads of organizations, and mass media.

In particular, various programs are being implemented to establish a people-centered traffic safety culture, such as "Stop immediately when you see a person!" and "If you reduce speed, you can see people!"

Last year, the province doubled the budget for improving and expanding traffic safety facilities to address the lack of infrastructure such as traffic enforcement CCTV, and promoted the "Safe Speed 5030 Project (50 km/h on general roads, 30 km/h on side roads)" to lower speed limits mainly in urban areas.

As a result, it is analyzed that there was a significant effect in reducing fatal accidents. The budget for improving and expanding traffic safety facilities has continuously increased from 15 billion won in 2018 to 30.2 billion won in 2019, and 38.5 billion won this year.

This year, when the "Min-sik Law" is fully implemented, the province plans to greatly expand traffic safety facilities, including the expansion of child protection zone traffic facilities (115 speed enforcement cameras, 124 crosswalk traffic lights, 440 yellow traffic lights), expansion of Safe Speed 5030 zones (17 counties), installation of crosswalk safety lighting (220 locations), and installation of ground-type pedestrian signals (54 locations).

In addition, the province plans to strengthen cooperation with the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency, 22 cities and counties, related organizations, and private groups to promptly implement traffic safety measures tailored to local conditions, such as improving traffic safety facilities.

Im Chae-young, Director of the Jeonnam Provincial Safety Office, said, "The fundamental measure to reduce traffic accident fatalities is to widely inform residents that it depends on improving the awareness of drivers and pedestrians and complying with traffic laws," adding, "This year, we will prepare active traffic accident prevention measures following the full implementation of the Min-sik Law and the Safe Speed 5030 Project, and create an opportunity to build a safety infrastructure."

He added, "We will also ensure that there is no negligence in measures to prevent traffic accidents during winter when traffic accidents rapidly increase due to heavy snow and icy roads, thereby reducing traffic accident fatalities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.