Drunk Driving Halved in One Year... Impact of the 'Yoon Chang-ho Act'

Gwangju, Sejong, Jeju Rank High in Traffic Culture Index
Traffic Standards Also Rise in Wonju, Gangwon and Gwangyang, Jeonnam

Drunk driving checkpoint (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] The frequency of drunk driving has significantly decreased to half within one year since the enforcement of the so-called 'Yoon Chang-ho Act,' which strengthened the punishment for drunk driving accidents.

According to the results of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's '2019 Traffic Culture Index Survey' released on the 31st, last year's traffic culture index scored 77.46 points, an increase of 2.21 points compared to the previous year (75.25 points).

Specifically, the frequency of drunk driving was recorded at 4.22%, falling to less than half of the previous year's 8.84%.

This appears to be influenced by the enforcement of the 'Yoon Chang-ho Act' in December 2018, which significantly strengthened the punishment standards for drunk driving.

However, the frequency of drivers using smart devices (35.50%), speeding violations (47.96%), and pedestrian jaywalking (32.20%) were relatively high, indicating an urgent need for awareness improvement.

In particular, it was found that 4 out of 10 current drivers use smart devices while driving, which is analyzed to pose a very high risk of traffic accidents.

The compliance rate with pedestrian crosswalk stop lines (78.62%), turn signal usage rate (73.37%), and motorcycle helmet wearing rate (84.95%) slightly improved compared to the previous year, but the turn signal usage rate remains in the low 70% range, indicating a need for management.

The front seat seatbelt wearing rate (86.48%) was relatively high, but the rear seat was still insufficient at 36.43%.

Looking at the traffic culture index by city and province, Gwangju Metropolitan City ranked first (84.03 points), followed by Sejong Special Self-Governing City (82.89) and Jeju Special Self-Governing Province (82.62).

Among cities with populations over 300,000, Wonju City in Gangwon Province showed a good level (86.23 points), while among cities with populations under 300,000, Gwangyang City in Jeollanam-do (86.61 points) and Yeongdong County in Chungbuk (88.57 points) in rural areas showed favorable levels.

Eom Myung-so, Director General of Comprehensive Transportation Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "The annual increase in the traffic culture index means that the overall public awareness of traffic safety is improving."

He added, "However, the frequency of smart device use while driving is still very high at 35.5%, and the frequency of smart device use while walking has not decreased much, raising concerns about traffic accidents. It is essential to follow safety driving and walking rules such as keeping eyes on the road ahead and maintaining a safe distance while driving and walking."

Meanwhile, the traffic culture index is a value quantified by surveying the level of awareness of traffic safety among residents of 229 basic local governments nationwide every year.

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