norms, the government should actively pursue measures if a person's life is exposed to risks
in daily life over a long period of time, resulting in death or irreversible health damage. In the
child protection zone, the areas surrounding schools were improved so that drivers could
easily recognize small children372) Then, the areas where elderly traffic accidents are
common should consider the characteristics of the elderly, who have slow walking speed
and reduced reaction ability due to deterioration in physical ability.
In other words, there is a significant need to analyze the main triggering behaviors of
elderly traffic accidents, identify their causes, and suggest measures to prevent traffic
accidents. Therefore, the government regularly announcing measures against traffic
accidents involving the elderly and the National Assembly preparing regulations to solve the
problem of traffic accidents involving the elderly through legislation are proper efforts.
However, these legislative and administrative measures need to be taken regularly and
continuously, as well as conducting on-site fact-finding surveys in the areas where elderly
traffic accidents are common.
With the amended Road Traffic Act, it is necessary for the local governments to actively
designate roads in residential and commercial areas with a lot of elderly pedestrian traffic as
elderly protection zones, and install safety facilities, including unmanned traffic
enforcement equipment, smart crosswalks for elderly pedestrians, safety fences, and
walking islands, etc. To this end, legislative and budgetary considerations should be
accompanied as well, such as setting speed limit to 30 km or less, priority installation of
traffic safety facilities and equipment, or mandating installation, etc.
In addition, it is essential to strengthen the education for the drivers about the elderly
pedestrians. In order to prevent accidents of elderly pedestrians, it is necessary for drivers to
understand the characteristics of the elderly pedestrians. The development and installation of
effective information signs and publicity measures should be considered so that the drivers
can understand the characteristics of elderly pedestrians and prevent accidents.
372) In fact, according to the National Statistics Portal (KOSIS), the number of traffic accidents involving the elderly aged
65 and over increased by 33.3% from 26,483 to 35,312 between 2011 and 2020, but the traffic accidents involving
children under the age of 12 decreased by 37.0% from 13,323 to 8,400 during the same period. This seems to be
the effect of various policies such as expanding child protection zones and strengthening punishment.
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