Special Joint Inspection of 'Children Protection Zones' Until the 19th of Next Month

Seoul City, Autonomous Districts, and Road Traffic Authority Jointly Inspect Illegal Street Parking, Traffic Safety Facility Installation and Management
Prompt Measures and Improvement Plans to Be Established Upon Identifying Issues During Inspection

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City announced that from the 15th of this month to the 19th of next month, Seoul City, 25 autonomous districts, and the Road Traffic Authority will jointly conduct a special inspection of child protection zones to ensure safe and enjoyable commuting routes for children starting the new school semester.

In the past three years, there have been 4,272 child traffic accidents, of which 272 accidents occurred within protection zones, accounting for 6.4%. Although 1,748 child protection zones have been designated within Seoul, traffic accidents involving children still occur even within these zones, indicating the need for continuous attention and strengthened safety measures.

Accordingly, Seoul City selected child protection zones as the first target for this year's safety inspection and will conduct an overall safety management status check, including the management of child protection zones.

The main inspection items include: establishing and managing plans for child protection zone designation, updating management cards; abolishing and relocating illegal roadside parking lots; installation and management of traffic safety facilities (safety signs, speed bumps, anti-slip pavement, etc.); and the appropriateness of fines imposed for parking and stopping violations within protection zones. Seoul City will promptly correct any identified issues after the inspection and prepare improvement measures, while also discovering exemplary cases.

This inspection will be conducted by dividing the work between Seoul City safety inspectors and autonomous district self-inspection teams, considering the COVID-19 spread situation. Among them, Seoul City safety inspectors will conduct sample inspections in five autonomous districts: Gwangjin-gu, Mapo-gu, Seongbuk-gu, Yangcheon-gu, and Seocho-gu.

Meanwhile, the Seoul City safety inspectors were newly established in 2019 and have the authority to inspect the disaster management implementation status of all Seoul City tasks and impose disciplinary actions if problems are found. This year, starting with inspections of child protection zones, they also plan to conduct inspections of safety management status at small and medium-sized private construction sites in the second half of the year.

Han Je-hyun, Director of Seoul City Safety General Office, said, “Through safety inspections, we are striving to prevent risk factors in advance and establish a safety culture.” He added, “We will carefully examine pedestrian and surrounding environments to ensure safe commuting routes for children, and we ask citizens to drive slowly and safely within child protection zones.”

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