'Children Traffic Accidents' Most Frequent in 'May and Holidays'... "No Complacency Like with COVID-19"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] From the 30th to the 5th of next month, during the longest 6-day golden holiday period, there is a risk that should not be overlooked as much as COVID-19. It is children's safety accidents.

On the 30th, the Korea Insurance Development Institute analyzed the traffic accident damage status of automobile insurance from 2017 to 2019. Last year, the number of child traffic accident victims was 112,558, an increase of 5.5% compared to the previous year. This marks a shift from a decrease of -0.2% in 2018 to an increase. However, the proportion of children among all traffic accident victims remained the same at 5.9% as the previous year.

The number of child traffic accident fatalities has been decreasing, with 65 in 2017, 45 in 2018, and 41 in 2019.

However, the proportion of accidents involving lower-grade students and crosswalk accidents remains high. Looking at the ages of child traffic accident victims last year, first graders in elementary school (9,749) were the most numerous, followed by second graders (9,104) and preschool children (8,575). The high number of victims among lower-grade students is analyzed to be due to exposure to new environments such as changes in the traffic environment caused by entering elementary school.

Monthly accident status shows that child victims were concentrated between May and October, when outdoor activities are frequent. While the overall traffic accident victims were many in October (9.1%) and November (9.0%), child victims had a higher proportion in August (10.2%), October (9.3%), and May (9.2%).

Child traffic accidents were frequent on weekends. The proportion of child victims among all accidents was 20.7% on weekends, which is double the weekday average of 11.7%. Looking only at child victims, 4 out of 10 (41.5%) were involved in accidents on weekends.

By time of day, on weekdays, the highest number of victims was during the 3 to 6 PM after-school hours. It appears that accidents frequently occurred during the time when school classes ended and children were moving to after-school activities, academies, or home. On weekends, more victims were recorded between noon and 4 PM.

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