Sejong Takes Strong Measure with 'Forced Collection' for Gongyu Electric Scooter Unauthorized Abandonment

A shared electric scooter is parked by the roadside. The photo is unrelated to the article. Source=Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Sejong City has taken out the ‘forced collection’ card against the unauthorized abandonment of shared electric scooters.

According to the city on the 15th, starting from the 21st of this month, shared electric scooters left unattended on roadsides, bicycle paths, and other road areas within the jurisdiction will be subject to forced collection.

Electric scooters are gaining users due to their ease of operation and the advantage of requiring little space for parking. Recently, private shared electric scooter companies have been deploying scooters throughout the city to meet the increasing demand.

Currently, there are two private shared electric scooter companies operating in the area, and the city estimates that about 330 scooters have been deployed within the city by these companies.

The problem is that as the use of electric scooters increases, many scooters are being abandoned on sidewalks, bicycle paths, parks, and other places, raising the risk of safety accidents. Consequently, citizen complaints continue to be received.

Accordingly, the city plans to strictly crack down (including forced collection) on shared electric scooters that are left unattended without justifiable reasons and cause obstruction to pedestrian or vehicle traffic, considering them as roadside obstructions under the Road Act.

Earlier, on the 14th, the city issued a warning to electric scooter rental companies to move and manage scooters that were occupying road areas without permission. From the start date of enforcement, the city will conduct frequent crackdowns and forcibly collect abandoned scooters.

Woo Jeong-hoon, head of the city’s Road Division, said, “We are conducting crackdowns to prevent accidents and citizen inconvenience caused by private shared scooters. However, personal electric scooters and those from city-approved companies parked at Eoulling docking stations will be exempt from enforcement to promote new transportation means.”

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