'Traffic Violation Vehicle Citizen Reports' Most for Pedestrian Safety and Inconvenience... Increase in Reports by Seoul Citizens

33% Increase in Reports in 2021 Compared to 2019... 68% Related to Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Inconvenience
Reports Not Meeting Reporting Criteria Average 24.8% Annually... Reports Must Identify Location and Vehicle Number

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Reports from Seoul citizens on vehicles violating traffic regulations have steadily increased, with citizens actively reporting issues related to pedestrian safety and traffic inconvenience.

On the 30th, Seoul City analyzed citizen reports over the past three years by violation type, region, month, and time of day. The number of reports rose from 149,293 in 2019 to 182,631 in 2020, and 198,668 in 2021. Notably, among the 398,866 cases where fines were imposed, reports of illegal parking on sidewalks and crosswalks accounted for 68%, or 270,870 cases, making these the most frequent reports directly related to pedestrian safety and traffic inconvenience.

By region, the Southwest and Southeast areas accounted for 25.6% and 24% respectively, showing relatively higher reporting rates compared to the downtown, Northeast, and Northwest areas, while by month and time of day, March, May, September, and November, as well as lunchtime (12?14h) and evening (17?19h) periods, had the highest reporting rates.

Seoul City stated, "The increasing trend in reports of traffic violations reflects citizens’ active response to pedestrian safety and traffic inconvenience caused by illegal parking in daily life, as well as their willingness to establish traffic order through self-participation." They added, "Since the implementation of the citizen reporting system in 2013, we have continuously improved the reporting app by providing reporting guidelines on the app screen, enhancing app images and design, adding unique camera functions, enabling photo attachments, and sending notification texts about processing results."

However, the number of reports that did not meet the reporting criteria has also steadily increased, indicating a need for improvement. Reasons for non-imposition of fines include failure to meet violation conditions (80%), unreadable vehicle photos (11%), and duplicate enforcement (9%). The citizen reporting targets have been gradually expanded since 2013, initially covering sidewalks, crosswalks, intersection corners, and bus-only lanes, and now include 10 categories.

Additionally, the number of cases where fines were not imposed despite reports has also been increasing over the past three years. The main reason for non-imposition was failure to meet violation conditions, such as submitting two photos taken from the same angle and position with identifiable location and vehicle number. Other reasons included unreadable vehicle photos and duplicate enforcement. The average non-imposition rate over the past three years was 24.8%.

Report photos must be taken from the same location and angle at one-minute intervals, and only photos taken through the smartphone app can be submitted to ensure evidential strength. If the reporting criteria are met, fines are imposed after an objection period without on-site verification by enforcement officers. Fines range from 80,000 to 90,000 KRW near fire hydrants with red curbs, 120,000 to 130,000 KRW in school zones, and 40,000 to 50,000 KRW for violations within certain limits on sidewalks, crosswalks, and intersections.

Seoul City plans to enhance the Seoul Smart Inconvenience Reporting app to encourage citizen reporting of traffic violations, making it more convenient and easy for anyone to report. Currently, the ‘Request Fine Imposition’ screen lists items in a single row at the bottom, which reduces visibility. The city will improve user convenience by arranging the fine imposition screen in a grid layout with icons for selecting report categories. Additionally, the city is considering enabling video attachments along with photos in the ‘Request Fine Imposition’ tab of the Seoul Smart Inconvenience Reporting app.

Baek Ho, Director of Urban Transportation at Seoul City, said, “The citizen reporting system for traffic violations is a system where citizens directly participate and improve traffic order culture by themselves, so continuous interest and participation from citizens are important.” He added, “Based on this citizen report analysis, Seoul City will conduct tailored enforcement in locations directly related to citizen safety and continuously improve the reporting app to enhance citizen convenience.”

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