"Inspection and Follow-up Management of Transportation Companies Contribute to Reducing Traffic Accidents"

Transportation Company Involved in Traffic Accidents Sees 24.4% Reduction in Casualties After Inspections

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Inspections and follow-up management of transportation companies have been found to significantly contribute to reducing traffic accidents.

According to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority on the 26th, safety inspections and follow-up management were conducted on 326 transportation companies that experienced traffic accidents in 2020. As a result, the number of casualties decreased by 24.4% (from 3,014 to 2,279).

The Authority inspects transportation companies with accident rates above a certain threshold, checking operations, drivers, vehicle operation, education, traffic accidents, and vehicle management. For insufficient items, administrative actions are recommended to the relevant local governments.

As a result, the number of deaths in inspected companies was 102 in 2020, but dropped sharply by 82.4% to 18 the following year.

Additionally, the number of traffic accidents decreased from 1,900 cases in 2020 to 1,547 cases in 2021, an average reduction of 18.6%. The decreases were in the order of taxis (-31.8%), freight (-28.2%), and buses (-8.2%).

In particular, as a result of focused follow-up management such as traffic safety consulting and support for safety equipment, the number of high-risk companies (43 companies) that were inspected consecutively in 2019 and 2020 dropped by 72.1% to 12 companies included in the 2021 inspection target.

Due to the significant decrease in traffic accidents through inspections and follow-up management, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport amended the 'Traffic Safety Act' in July last year to strengthen the criteria for transportation safety inspections (from 3 or more serious injuries in one traffic accident to 2 or more).

Furthermore, related laws are being revised to include car rental businesses, which have recently seen an increase in traffic accidents, in the transportation safety inspection targets.

Kwon Yong-bok, Director of the Authority, said, "Since statistics began in 1970, last year marked the first time the number of traffic accident deaths fell into the 2,000 range, achieving great results. However, deaths involving commercial vehicles still account for about 19% of the total." He added, "This year, we will do our best to establish a safe traffic culture by ensuring rest times for transportation workers, banning video watching while driving, and requiring a complete stop before right turns at intersections."

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