Over 2,000 Violations of School Bus Regulations in 2 Years... Sharp Increase in 'Safety Device Deficiencies'

Assemblyman Kim Young-bae's Audit Materials

Kim Young-bae, member of the Democratic Party of Korea./Provided by the member's office

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] It has been revealed that there were over 2,000 cases of legal violations, including insufficient vehicle safety devices on children's school buses, in the past two years.

According to the 'School Bus Operation Status Survey Results' submitted by the National Police Agency to Kim Young-bae, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 2,104 major legal violations were detected during two government joint inspections of children's school bus operations conducted last year and this year.

The full inspections were conducted twice over a total of 86 days: 40 days from September 1 last year, and 46 days from May this year. The inspections involved related ministries and agencies including the National Police Agency, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, local governments, Korea Transportation Safety Authority, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

By type, insufficient vehicle safety devices accounted for the largest number with 1,596 cases, followed by 240 cases of failure to complete safety education, and 168 cases of unreported operation. In particular, cases of insufficient vehicle safety devices violating overall vehicle safety regulations, such as failure to install disembarkation confirmation devices and illegal structural modifications, surged from 473 cases last year to 1,123 cases this year.

Assemblyman Kim stated, "The full inspection results show that legal violations on children's school buses increased this year compared to last year, which is due to the temporary use of children's safety devices only during special periods," adding, "Since children's lives are directly at stake, it is necessary to make safety inspections and crackdowns on children's school buses a regular practice."

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