"Vehicles Abandoned Without Permission for Over Two Months Can Be Subject to Forced Towing"

Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Automobile Management Act Passed at the Cabinet Meeting
'Fraud' Added to the Requirements for Automobile Deregistration Application

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Jiwon] In the future, if a car is left unattended on someone else's land without justifiable reason for more than 2 months, it can be forcibly towed.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 18th that the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Automobile Management Act containing this content has passed the Cabinet meeting.

Until now, there was no clear regulation on how long a vehicle must be left unattended for forced action to be possible. Therefore, even if a vehicle was parked without permission on someone else's land for a long time, it was difficult to handle, causing many cases of damage.

However, from now on, if a car is left unattended on someone else's land for more than '2 months,' forced action will be possible, and damage caused by this is expected to decrease somewhat.

If the car is disassembled or damaged and cannot be operated, the period during which it must not be left unattended is reduced to 15 days.

Also, the Automobile Registration Decree has been amended to add 'fraud' cases to the requirements for applying for automobile cancellation registration.

Until now, cancellation registration of a car was only possible in cases of theft or embezzlement. In cases of fraud, it was not treated as a requirement for cancellation registration, which unfairly infringed on the property rights of car owners.

Furthermore, the Enforcement Decree of the Automobile Damage Compensation Guarantee Act has been amended so that business automobile mutual aid associations for buses, taxis, and freight vehicles can also receive personal information on traffic violations such as drunk driving, which was previously provided only to insurance companies, through the Automobile Damage Compensation Promotion Agency.

Only the minimum personal information stipulated by law can be provided, limiting the violator's name, resident registration number, violation date and time, etc., and the recipients and provided information must be recorded and managed.

The amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Automobile Damage Compensation Guarantee Act will take effect from the 27th, and the amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Automobile Management Act and the Automobile Registration Decree will take effect from the 28th.

Lee Joong-ki, head of the Automobile Insurance Operation Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "By applying consistent standards for the period of unattended vehicles, we have reduced inconvenience to the public and prevented infringement of property rights," and added, "also, allowing automobile mutual aid associations to use personal information on traffic violations for insurance processing is expected to greatly contribute to reducing traffic accidents."

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