Traffic Accidents During Seol Holiday, Most Frequent Two Days Before

KOTSA Analyzes 3-Year Traffic Safety Status
Accidents and Casualties 1.5x and 1.3x Higher
62 Drunk Driving Cases... Exceeding 50 Daily on Average

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Gang-wook] An analysis revealed that the most traffic accidents occur two days before the Seollal holiday. In particular, there were many accidents caused by drunk driving.

According to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's analysis of traffic accident data during the Seollal holiday period from 2017 to 2019, the period with the highest concentration of traffic accidents and casualties was two days before the holiday. During this period, the average daily number of traffic accidents during the Seollal holiday was 442 cases, with 771 casualties. However, two days before Seollal, traffic accidents numbered 681 cases and casualties reached 1,040, which were 1.5 times and 1.3 times higher than the holiday average, respectively.

In particular, the average number of drunk driving accidents two days before Seollal was 62 cases, the highest among the five days of the holiday period. Considering that the daily average number of drunk driving accidents over the past three years was about 50 cases, this was 1.2 times higher. When examining the causes of traffic accidents during the Seollal holiday by violation type, the order was △ failure to fulfill safe driving obligations 55.7% △ signal violations 12.0% △ failure to maintain safe distance 9.1%, among others.

However, the number of traffic accidents and casualties during the Seollal holiday showed a decreasing trend each year. The number of accidents during this period decreased from 2,350 to 2,222 to 2,061, and casualties also decreased from 4,119 to 3,826 to 3,617. The number of deaths also showed a decreasing trend from 43 to 28. The Authority estimated that traffic accidents would further decrease this year due to the reduction in travelers returning to their hometowns caused by COVID-19 and social distancing measures.

The Authority urged the public to wear seat belts for a safe Seollal holiday. In fact, the fatality rate in traffic accidents was found to be about 4.7 times higher when seat belts were not worn compared to when they were worn. They also emphasized that drunk driving is absolutely prohibited. Research showed that even drinking just one glass of soju can cause blood alcohol concentration to exceed 0.03% after some time.

Meanwhile, from the 8th to the 14th, the Authority is conducting the ‘Seollal Holiday Traffic Safety On-tact Campaign.’ This campaign allows participation by taking a certification shot of one of the following three actions: △ fastening seat belts in all seats △ requesting safe orders for delivery riders △ mimicking the Safe Speed 5030 gesture, and uploading it on individual Instagram or Facebook accounts with a hashtag (#).

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