Personal Mobility is popular recently. Among them, the number of shared electric scooters is rapidly growing. But along with the growth, the number of accidents also increased. According to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, the number of electric scooter traffic accidents has increased 18 times from only 49 in 2016 to 890 in 2019. On October 27th in Incheon, a high school student on an electric scooter crashed into a taxi and eventually died. While electric scooter users are at risk, pedestrians are also feeling anxious about the sudden appearance of electric scooters. The problem, however, is that regulations on electric scooters will be eased with the revision of the Road Traffic Act on December 10th. While the risk of accidents is high and the road system related to electric kickboards has not been overhauled, the current regressive revision is undesirable.
Under the current law, electric scooters are classified as motorized bicycles, therefore a driver license is needed to ride the electric scooters. Since the license can be obtained from the age of 16, the age limit on the use of electric kickboards was also 16 years old. In addition, it was impossible to drive on sidewalks and bike lanes and wearing safety equipment such as helmets was also mandatory. However, the revision of the Road Traffic Act greatly eased these regulations. They can now be used without a license and the minimum age of use has also been lowered to 13. Moreover, users can now drive in the bike lanes and the obligation to wear safety devices was eliminated. As a result, the safety of people in the street is seriously at risk now. First of all, as the age of use has been lowered, it has become possible for young teenagers who lack knowledge of road traffic to ride electric scooters on roads. The possibility of accidents is bound to increase. On top of that, the potential lack of wearing safety devices will increase the risk of accidents not only for teenagers but also for adult users. Meanwhile, places where the electric scooters drive safely was also not completely arranged. Currently, electric scooters can operate on roads and bike lanes, but they are not welcomed in either. First, on the road, car drivers don’t like electric scooters because they worry about accidents and electric scooters users themselves can also feel threatened on the road. Therefore, the users are likely to move to the sidewalk even though it is illegal. On the sidewalk, however, they threaten pedestrians. They are also dangerous in bike lanes. This is because there is a high possibility of two different transportations colling with each other on narrow bike lanes. Measures such as allowing the users to drive on the sidewalk on condition that limits the speed to 4 kilometers per hour, which is the average speed of pedestrians, or establishing a road system for electric scooters should be taken.
In addition to safety problems, electric kickboards also have parking problems. As there are currently no regulations on parking for electric scooters, electric scooters are scattered on the streets in disorder. This is not good in appearance, but it also causes inconvenience to pedestrians and drivers. As complaints grew, the Seoul Metropolitan Government set up parking guidelines in September this year. As safety concerns are rising more than ever now, safety management measures that reflect the voices of many are needed, as in the case of Seoul. Activation of eco-friendly and convenient transportation is of course important. However, the most important thing in road transportation is the safety of citizens.