Rising Safety Concerns Over Use of Personal Mobility in KNU

The increase of use of personal mobility devices causes safety issues not only on campus but everywhere

 Since the advent of personal mobility devices (PMD) such as Segway, electric scooters, etc, they have been providing its users with so much convenience. According to KOTI(The Korea Transport Institute), it is expected to rise from 60,000 PMD users in 2016 to roughly 220,000 users in 2022 in the domestic personal mobility market as well as approximately 100,000,000 users in the global market based on Fuji Keizai, market research professional group in Japan.

People use them as an alternative to cars or any other vehicles for either long or middle distance. They also have eco-friendly features so that they are being loved more according to the current environmental trend in the world. However, despite many types of PMDs, there are no established regulations that are applied to all of those even until now in Korea, so they cause many safety problems.

 The Korean National Police Agency reported that four people were dead when it comes to PMDs, and according to CISS (Consumer Injury Surveillance System). During the past three years ranging from 2016 to 2018, the number of PMD-related accidents amounted to 695, which 33% of them were injuries for head or face. Due to the increasing number of accidents, PMD users call on authorities to establish related and appropriate legislations.  

 Under the current law, The Road Traffic Act in Korea makes it a rule that personal mobilities are defined as motorbikes, so users should wear a safety helmet, use a car lane, and ride it below 25km. But there is a problem here. Like it is mentioned above, there are many types of PMDs, and electric scooters and electric bicycles are the most popular ones in Korea. It is required to have a license for electric scooters, but unnecessary for electric bicycles. Also, the former is allowed to ride on a bicycle road, the letter is not. Under this wandering regulation, people are getting confused and they just ride on a pedestrian road even though there is a rule that PMDs should be on the care lane, otherwise, they could be fined for breaching the rule up to 50,000 won($42.57 as of 2019). 

 Look at how other countries control over PMDs. In France, the situation is almost similar. They face the growing number of PMD-users and has put in place related to safety rules. People who ride electric scooters on pedestrian paths will be strictly prohibited, and violators will be fined with around 176,000 won ($150). Also, the maximum speed of personal mobility devices should be below 25 kilometers. 

Japan categorizes electric scooters or other PMDs as a motorized bicycle like we do, allowing users to have a license and ride them on the car lane.

With lots of uphill roads and the big size of the campus, KNU, several students are using personal mobility devices. Lately, the sharing service of electric scooters is expected to increase its more users. But at the same time, safety matters such as driving devices while wasted, riding it without equipment, or license, etc. are being reported. However, because the road on campus is not categorized as a regular road that is applied in the Road Traffic Act, college students on campus do not have to follow that rule. In this situation, the revision of road traffic acts is making the road of campus the regular route that is still pending for over two years. 

 To prevent further issues, our university put up a banner restricting up to 15km on campus, a pair riding at once, and recommending wearing safety equipment. Furthermore, a local bus in Chuncheon that passes through the university is expected to be operated as of November, and it appears that we need to have some measures for the possibility of accidents that can happen between the bus and PMD-users. 

 Currently, our university recommends students to follow the safety rules voluntarily rather than force them to do. Also, The School Support Team for KNU student is not only considering lending a safety helmet to students but also operating the campus police that is literally on a par with the regular police protecting students and preventing any accident from happening. 

 The users of PMD will increase more and more. But, PMD-users are not the only ones who abide by safety rules. Laws have to make the appropriate bill for Personal Mobility devices, and Universities should follow the rule or make its regulations to protect students.

Park Namhyun

<fldqhddl@kangwon.ac.kr>