"To Carry More Cargo"... Incheon Police Catch 261 for Illegal Modification of Cargo Trucks

Truck owners and maintenance workers involved in illegally modifying cargo trucks have been caught in large numbers.

The Incheon Police Agency announced on November 7 that, from June to September, it conducted a crackdown on illegally modified cargo trucks, booking 261 individuals without detention on charges of violating the Automobile Management Act and referring them to the prosecution. In addition, the agency notified the relevant local governments to inspect whether 126 illegally modified cargo trucks had been restored to their original condition.

According to the police investigation, the truck owners and others who were caught had illegally altered the structure of cargo trucks, including box trucks, in order to carry more cargo or to load cargo more conveniently.

The police explained that, due to Incheon's geographical characteristics as a location for airports and ports, the volume of cargo truck traffic is higher than in other regions, prompting this crackdown to prevent traffic accidents. In cooperation with related organizations such as the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, the police conducted more than 120 joint crackdowns and also strengthened inspections of maintenance companies to fundamentally block illegal structural modifications of cargo trucks.

Police are cracking down on illegally modified cargo trucks. Photo by Incheon Police Agency

As of last year, the proportion of cargo truck traffic accidents in Incheon accounted for 18.9% of all traffic accidents, approximately 2 percentage points higher than the national average of 16.5%.

An official from the Incheon Police Agency stated, "During this intensive crackdown period, the number of fatalities from cargo truck traffic accidents in Incheon was five, which is two fewer than the same period last year," adding, "We will continue to crack down on illegally modified vehicles and the maintenance companies that facilitate these modifications."