Fire, Ambulance, and Police Vehicles: Expanded Traffic Privileges ... Allowing Center Line Crossing and No Parking Restrictions

Road Traffic Act Amendment Effective from the 12th... Leniency Also Applied in School Zone Traffic Accidents

Firefighters and Seoul city officials are conducting a joint training exercise for fire accident response at Bukak Tunnel in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 20th. This tunnel fire drill was organized to enhance practical response capabilities in the event of a fire (fire detection by tunnel personnel → situation reporting → activation of fire prevention equipment → fire suppression → rescue operations → traffic control, etc.) as well as to improve cooperation and coordination among related agencies. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, and emergency vehicles transporting blood, which perform tasks directly related to the lives and safety of the public, will no longer be punished for violating centerline crossing or no-parking regulations, and even if an accident occurs, they will be allowed to handle it after completing their official duties.

The Fire Agency and the National Police Agency announced on the 11th that the revised "Road Traffic Act" containing these provisions will be promulgated and enforced on the 12th.

According to this legal amendment, nine special exceptions will be added for emergency vehicles, including ▲prohibition of signal violations ▲prohibition of centerline crossing ▲prohibition of reversing, crossing, and U-turns ▲obligation to maintain a safe distance ▲obligation to comply with overtaking methods ▲prohibition of stopping and parking ▲prohibition of parking ▲prohibition of walking on sidewalks ▲and obligation to take measures in case of breakdowns or other situations.

Until now, emergency vehicle drivers were partially allowed to violate traffic laws such as signal violations and speeding when unavoidable during official duties, but in case of traffic accidents, exceptions were only recognized in three cases: speed limits, prohibition of overtaking, and prohibition of cutting in. In other cases, the same "Special Act on the Settlement of Traffic Accidents" applied as for regular vehicles.

This ultimately meant that individual public officials driving emergency vehicles bore responsibility for traffic accidents, which has been pointed out as an obstacle to the active performance of duties by firefighters and police officers during fieldwork.

Especially since March 25 of last year, with the enforcement of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (commonly known as the Min-sik Law), punishments for traffic accidents involving children in school zones have been strengthened, and aggravated penalties have been applied without exception to emergency vehicle drivers performing official duties, increasing anxiety among field workers.

In response, lawmakers Park Wan-su and Kim Yong-pan of the People Power Party proposed an amendment to the Road Traffic Act to add special exceptions for fire, ambulance, police, and blood transport emergency vehicles, which was passed by the National Assembly plenary session on December 9 last year.

The amendment not only secures nine special exceptions for emergency vehicles but also allows for sentence reduction or exemption by considering the urgency and inevitability of emergency activities when a traffic accident involving children occurs in a school zone.

A Fire Agency official said, "With this revision of the Road Traffic Act, field workers can actively perform their duties without worrying about traffic accidents occurring during official duties," adding, "This will lead to rapid dispatch and securing the golden time, greatly contributing to protecting the lives and safety of the public."

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