'Electric Scooter Law' Introduced... Government Takes Steps to Regulate Personal Mobility Devices

A citizen wearing no protective gear is riding an electric scooter weaving through cars on the Seoul Namsan Circular Road. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The government is taking comprehensive measures to manage personal mobility devices (PM), such as electric kickboards, which are gradually increasing in number, by enacting relevant laws.

On the 20th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that at the 112th National Policy Issue Inspection and Coordination Meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, related ministries jointly prepared and decided to actively promote the "Personal Mobility (PM) Utilization Activation and Safety Management Plan" to activate the use of PMs and ensure safe management.

Although some systems were improved, such as allowing PMs to use bicycle lanes and strengthening product safety standards through amendments to the Road Traffic Act in June, concerns about PM usage safety still exist. With the increasing need to manage shared PMs, the government is working to fill regulatory gaps and develop measures to make PMs safe and useful means of transportation.

First, the government plans to focus on creating a safe and convenient PM usage environment. Through the enactment of the "Act on the Activation and Management of Personal Mobility Use" (tentative name) within the year, which includes safety compliance requirements, PM infrastructure and services will be institutionalized for systematic management.

Along with this, to foster a safe PM usage culture, educational programs will be developed through the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, and since anyone aged 13 and above will be allowed to use PMs from the end of the year, PM usage education targeting elementary, middle, and high schools will also be promoted. Additionally, a public-private cooperative governance involving central government ministries, local governments, and the PM industry will be formed to distribute PM usage safety rules and actively promote them.

PM-friendly transportation infrastructure will also be established. Detailed design standards for bicycle lanes that reflect PM specifications and performance will be prepared and incorporated into future designs.

Parking and docking spaces for PMs will be installed at railway stations and transfer centers. The Road Traffic Act will be amended to allow docking facilities to be installed on sidewalks as well, strengthening management to resolve issues with shared PMs currently operated in a "non-docking" manner, which causes inconvenience due to the lack of separate rental and return locations. However, considering the time required for related legislation and installation of parking and docking facilities, enforcement will be carried out after a grace period.

Efforts to activate usage will also be made. A personal mobility rental business will be newly established and operated under a registration system, and PMs will be linked with the Metropolitan Discount Transportation Card to provide public transportation discounts. PMs will also be allowed to be carried on metropolitan trains at the same level as bicycles.

User protection, which had been pointed out as an issue, will be strengthened. Registered rental operators will be required to subscribe to insurance, which is currently voluntary, and a standard rental agreement will be prepared and announced. Group insurance that can protect individual users will also be developed.

PM safety requirements will be strengthened so that only devices bearing the KC mark can be used, and illegally modified devices or those not meeting safety standards will be prohibited. Through the Safety Report Center, a service will be operated to report inconveniences such as PMs abandoned on roads and damage to related facilities, and a network with local governments will be established to promptly resolve these issues.

Baek Seung-geun, Director of the Transportation and Logistics Office at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We expect to prevent problems such as rapidly increasing safety accidents along with the continuous development of the rapidly growing personal mobility industry," and emphasized, "Since participation from not only the government but also private sectors such as personal mobility rental companies and general users is necessary, we ask for active participation in spreading a safe PM usage culture."

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