Central 119 Rescue Headquarters-Korea Expressway Corporation, Rapid Response to Highway and Tunnel Accidents

One-Day Bilateral Agreement ... 19% of Highway Accidents Occur Inside Tunnels

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Central 119 Rescue Headquarters of the National Fire Agency and Korea Expressway Corporation announced on the 1st that they have signed a memorandum of understanding to respond more systematically to accidents occurring on highways and in tunnels.

As domestic highways continue to expand and tunnel accidents, such as the explosion accident in the Samae2 Tunnel on the Suncheon-Wanju Expressway on February 17 this year, are increasing, the need to strengthen cooperative response between agencies has grown. The proportion of tunnel accidents among highway accidents in Korea increased by 7.4 percentage points, from 11.8% during 2011?2013 to 19.2% during 2017?2019.

The two agencies will share real-time footage from 7,385 closed-circuit (CC) TVs installed nationwide on highways to quickly assess disaster sites and immediately deploy special equipment in case of accidents such as hazardous chemical leaks or explosions.

They also agreed to exchange professional instructors to operate training programs for accident preparedness and to regularly hold councils necessary for legal or institutional improvements.

Furthermore, they will jointly promote safe driving campaigns to ensure compliance with safety driving regulations such as reducing speed and maintaining safe distances during severe weather conditions.

Lee Sang-gyu, head of the Central 119 Rescue Headquarters, said, "Since accidents on highways or in tunnels can easily lead to secondary accidents and escalate in scale, we will continuously cooperate with Korea Expressway Corporation to reduce accidents."

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