Kim Tae-jin, Gwangju Seo-gu Council Member, Urges Urgent Traffic Safety Measures for Children and the Elderly

Published 05 Dec.2022 13:27(KST)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Shin Dong-ho] It has been revealed that traffic safety for vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly, as well as road environments, remains weak in Gwangju, highlighting the urgent need for countermeasures.

Kim Tae-jin, a member of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Seo-gu Council (Progressive Party), recently analyzed the '2021 National Local Governments Traffic Safety Index' released by the Road Traffic Authority and found that the safety indices for vulnerable groups and road environments were lower than the average of 69 local districts nationwide.

The average traffic safety index for Seo-gu, Gwangju was 79.85 points.

Gwangsan-gu scored 76.82, Buk-gu 77.72, Dong-gu 80.84, and Nam-gu 81.45.

Gwangsan-gu and Buk-gu scored below the nationwide average of 78.66 points among the 69 local districts.

Councilor Kim stated, “Including these districts, Gwangju’s scores in two areas?vulnerable groups and road environments?are the lowest in traffic safety, making urgent countermeasures necessary.”

Compared to the national average of 80.16 points for vulnerable groups and 79.94 points for road environments across 69 local districts, Gwangju scored 78.86 points for vulnerable groups and 78.15 points for road environments, both below the national average. Notably, Gwangsan-gu scored 67.23 in the detailed indicator for child vulnerable groups.

Specifically, the most vulnerable areas were Gwangsan-gu driver domain (74.87) ranked 64th (E grade), Nam-gu road environment domain (80.01) ranked 41st (C grade), Dong-gu pedestrian domain (76.44) ranked 48th (D grade), Buk-gu vulnerable groups (76.49) ranked 59th (D grade), and Seo-gu road environment domain (78.24) ranked 48th (D grade).

Nam-gu (81.45) ranked 13th (B grade), Dong-gu (80.84) 17th (B grade), Seo-gu (79.85) 30th (C grade), and Buk-gu (77.72) 52nd (D grade).

Gwangsan-gu (76.82) was the lowest among the five districts of Gwangju, ranking 56th (D grade).