Jo Oh-seop "Camping Car Boom... Need to Revise Safety Standards"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Amid the camping car tuning craze sparked by deregulation expanding camping car tuning to all vehicle types, safety accidents are also occurring one after another, raising urgent calls for countermeasures.

Assemblyman Jo O-seop (Gwangju Buk-gu Gap, Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee & Budget Committee) stated at the Korea Transportation Safety Authority’s National Assembly audit held on the 8th, "The number of approved camping car tunings increased from 125 units in 2014 to 2,195 units in 2019, and as of the end of August this year, it surged to 7,012 units, more than 56 times."

This is because the enforcement regulations of the Automobile Management Act were revised in February last year, allowing camping car tuning, which was previously limited to vans, to be fully permitted for passenger cars, cargo trucks, and special vehicles.

Since deregulation, cargo trucks have received the most tuning approvals at 5,534 units, followed by passenger cars at 1,366 units, and special vehicles at 87 units.

Along with the camping car tuning craze, camping car automobile insurance accidents also increased 5.2 times from 698 cases in 2016 to 3,680 cases in 2020. Considering 2,370 cases in the first half of this year, it is expected to approach 5,000 cases by the end of the year.

According to data submitted by the Fire Agency, there were 225 camping car-related fire incidents over the past six years (2016 to August 2021), resulting in 1 death, 14 injuries, and property damage amounting to 2.385 billion KRW.

Article 29, Paragraph 3 of the Automobile Management Act stipulates that gas storage, equipment, and piping facilities installed inside camping vehicles for cooking and camping purposes must comply with the 'Liquefied Petroleum Gas Safety Control Act,' and electrical equipment and camping facilities must meet safety standards set by the 'Automobile Regulations.'

However, Article 18, Paragraph 4 of the 'Automobile Regulations' concerning electrical equipment only covers ▲prevention of water ingress at external power inlets ▲overload protection for chargers ▲warning labels on high-voltage components exceeding DC 60 volts or AC 30 volts ▲and power cut-off functions such as leakage breakers and fuses.

Due to the nature of tuning camping cars, which use a lot of electricity with complex wiring, generally separately installed large-capacity batteries, and various camping equipment such as auxiliary heaters, the current regulations do not sufficiently address risks of electrical overload and other safety hazards.

In fact, last month, an explosion accident occurred on a road in Daejeon involving a tuning bus camping car, suspected to be caused by a lithium battery explosion. Earlier, in April last year, a fire accident occurred in Nonsan involving a parked tuning van camping car, also suspected to be caused by a battery explosion.

Assemblyman Jo O-seop said, "As leisure and car camping have gained popularity due to COVID-19, camping car tuning is spreading exponentially, but safety accident risks are also increasing. Since general passenger cars and cargo trucks are being tuned, comprehensive safety standards including electrical equipment and overloading need to be reorganized."

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