Holiday Travel Volume Increased by 5.6% but Traffic Accidents Decreased

Deaths Decreased by 16.7%, Injuries Decreased by 51.6%

On the 30th of last month, during the Lunar New Year holiday, traffic congestion continued on the southbound lanes (right side) of the Gyeongbu Expressway as seen from Jamwon IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

During the recent Lunar New Year holiday, the number of travelers increased by 5.6% compared to the previous year, while traffic accident casualties decreased by 16.7% to 51.6% compared to the previous year.

On the 3rd, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced, "The total number of travelers during the Lunar New Year holiday was 25.94 million (an average of 4.32 million per day). Due to the spread of Omicron and reduced travel, the average daily number of travelers was 10% lower than the predicted figure (4.8 million)."

Although heavy snowfall in the Seoul metropolitan area and the West Coast caused highway congestion on Lunar New Year's Day, no major accidents occurred thanks to the special traffic countermeasures headquarters' preemptive response, prompt snow removal operations, and cooperation from users.

In particular, during this special traffic countermeasure period, the use of drones, unmarked patrol cars, and strengthened traffic control and management led to a decrease in the number of traffic accidents, fatalities, and injuries.

The average daily traffic accidents were 238, about 44% less than the previous year, and the average daily number of deaths and injuries were 4 and 319 respectively, decreasing by 16.7% and 51.6% compared to the previous year.

Uh Myung-so, head of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Special Traffic Countermeasures Headquarters, said, "As with last Lunar New Year, this year's special traffic countermeasures focusing on quarantine and traffic safety were well implemented thanks to the active cooperation of the public."

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