Urgent Special Inspection of 1,306 Nationwide 'Children Protection Zones' with Traffic Accidents Occurred

Measures to Improve Areas Prone to Accidents ... Campaign to Follow Children's Traffic Safety Rules

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 8th that it will conduct an urgent special on-site inspection of school zones with a high risk of recurring traffic accidents by the 22nd, in cooperation with related organizations such as the Ministry of Education, the National Police Agency, local governments, and the Korea Road Traffic Authority.

Following the on-site inspection conducted in August this year targeting 52 school zones nationwide with high traffic accident risks, an additional special inspection has been implemented after a child fatality occurred in a school zone in Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 17th of last month to prevent similar accidents from recurring.

This special inspection targets all 1,306 school zones where at least one traffic accident occurred in the past three years (2018?2020) and were not included in the August inspection.

The inspection team, composed of related organizations, will focus on checking whether facility improvements have been made in accident-prone areas and on the improvement requests from local residents and parents. Through on-site inspections, they will analyze risk factors and prepare improvement plans for each location. Minor maintenance will be completed before the start of the next school year, and places requiring facility improvement construction will be prioritized for investment using next year’s school zone improvement project budget, aiming to complete the work by the first half of the year.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will simultaneously promote the children's traffic safety slogan selected through a public idea contest in July, "Stop at 1! Look both ways at 2! For 3 seconds! Prevent 4 dangers!" in the form of a "relay challenge" to establish a culture that prioritizes child protection. This involves posting a safety bracket certification shot and a pledge for children's traffic safety on Instagram with mandatory hashtags, then nominating three next participants.

Kim Hee-gyeom, Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and Jeong Jae-hee, a private committee member of the Central Council for Safety Culture Movement Promotion, participated as the first challengers, and the campaign will expand as public institutions and civic groups are nominated in turn, promoting joint participation between the public and private sectors.

Gu Bon-geun, Director of the Life Safety Policy Division at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "I hope that the habit of obeying speed limits and driving attentively will be established especially in school zones," adding, "We will ensure that necessary improvements identified through this special inspection are promptly addressed."

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