spokesperson at the Land Ministry, noting that everything from human behavior and weather conditions to fuel costs had an effect on the number of traffic accidents.
Whether through government efforts or not, the arc of recent years has been a decline in traffic deaths. Last year, however, looks to have bucked that positive trend.
While the official figures are yet to be released for 2012, Kho said that number would surpass that of the previous year, which would be the first rise in more than a decade. One possible reason, according to Kho, is changes made last year to the evaluation and promotion system for police officials.
“They evaluate the captains of police stations across the country. There are many items for the evaluation, but one item was removed last year: That is the number of fatal injuries,” said Kho, arguing that this may have acted as a disincentive to the police enforcing the traffic laws.
“Last year, the KNP did not pay much attention to enforcement, including speeding and many violations of traffic laws.”
Another theory for the rise in deaths is that international conferences such as the 2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit diverted police resources away from traffic enforcement.
With a lot done to improve road safety already, the next task for the country, as set by the government, is to bring the number of accidents in line with international levels. Kim said that three “Es” would be crucial to putting Korea on this path.
“We commonly say that we need three ‘Es’ ― education, engineering, and enforcement. Among them, I want to emphasize traffic safety education. With a long-term perspective, education can change the behavior of road users,” he said.
“Related to this, we have to develop safety policies for the elderly to prepare for an aging society.
“Engineering means to develop the design skills for roads, to improve the management of traffic safety facilities with converging advanced IT solutions, and to enhance technologies of vehicle equipment.
“Enforcement should be applied not to simply impose a penalty on road users but to encourage their behavior and sense on the traffic safety.”
By John Power (firstname.lastname@example.org )
Improving road safety...
Korea could greatly improve road safety if laws were enforced. Unfortunately, South Korea has decided as a nation not to enforce road safety laws, such as speeding, failure to use a turn signal, driving too close to others, and improper seat belt use.
If the government wanted to improve road safety, like other OECD countries do, they would enforce the law by issuing tickets and encouraging new drivers to memorize these rules.
This would mean that Korea should create a serious and well-funded police traffic task force. They should be aggressive about handing out tickets when they have evidence of illegal activity. With this, prosecution should also be more serious and not allow bribery.
When it comes to non-police related issues, cities should be required to maintain crosswalks across the country much better than they do. They should also be required to put sand or salt on the roads for traction on snowy and icy roads.
The Korean government must also reign in on bus drivers and taxi drivers as their speeds and reckless behavior encourage others to drive aggressively instead of defensively.
Fake construction workers waving lights or police lights mounted to poles do little to stop traffic offenders. It is really a shame that Korea, as of 2009, has the second highest number of traffic fatalities among OECD nations per billion kilometers driven.
Traffic safety should not continue to be a second priority to timeliness.
― Anthony Gilbert, Anyang, Gyeonggi Province
It is very easy to improve road safety in Korea. First, stop selling soju in Korea. Second, remind all Korean drivers that being first is not as important as being alive. Third, all driving school instructors in Korea must be re-trained, and instructed to teach that the safety and security of all other drivers on the highways is the first priority of all drivers. Fourth, instruct all Korean driv