[Interview file] Follow safety measures for electric kickboards, electric bicycles?

Electric bikes and electric kickboards have only one thing in common.

The way it works, it borrows the power of electricity.

Other than that, it is all different.

It's different from sitting and standing, starting from the beginning.

It doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's a big difference.

You can feel it completely if you ride it yourself.

Seated electric bicycles give a much more sense of stability than electric kickboards.

The wheels are large and the price is high.

It is also a big difference to move only by moving the pedal.

For this reason, the rate of riding for leisure or exercise instead of commuting is high.

In the city center, where there are many pedestrians and cars, it is easier to see electric kickboards than electric bicycles.

The weapon of an electric kickboard is simplicity.

It's compact, so you can run in a much smaller space than an electric bike.

Looking at the shared type alone, it is estimated that there are 20,000 electric kickboards nationwide, twice as many as electric bicycles.

However, the center of gravity is high and the wheels are small, so even small bumps and bumps have great shake and fall easily.

National Assembly and the government came up with virtually identical safety measures for these two mobile devices, which differ in structure and characteristics.

It also made it possible to run a bike path.

At the time of introduction, electric kickboards and electric bicycles were classified as'motorcycles' such as motorcycles.

I had to go only on the driveway.

In order to run a bike path, it had to be'bicycle' as the name of the road was, without the word'motive device'.

Electric bicycles have been moved into the bicycle category in 2017 due to the revision of the law on the activation of bicycle use.

Electric kickboards will also be removed from motorized bicycles from the 10th of next month due to the revision of the Road Traffic Act in May.

The problem is that extending the range of activities to the bike path is virtually all safety measures.

The actual regulation has rather loosened.

Because it became a bicycle.

Motorized bicycles require a license and are subject to a fine for not wearing a helmet.

However, as it is classified as a bicycle, anyone over the age of 13 can use it without needing a license, and there is no penalty for not wearing a helmet.

77.3% of Korea's bicycle roads are pedestrian roads.

When the electric kickboard runs on the bike path, there is inevitably more contact with pedestrians.

The electric kickboard's safety measures, which are highly likely to bump into pedestrians, were needed because the feeling of stability was reduced due to the standing ride, and it was difficult to fall and control. However, it was left out of the discussions between the National Assembly and the government.

On November 20, 2018, the first discussion between the National Assembly and the government on electric kickboards took place at the Legislative Review Subcommittee of the National Assembly Administrative Safety Committee.

Two bills had been proposed.

Former lawmaker Eui-rak Hong suggested that electric kickboards should be banned from roadways and should only be used on bicycle paths or sidewalks, but limited the speed to 10km/h on sidewalks.

Assemblyman Yoon Jae-ok's proposal became the standard for the revised Road Traffic Act.

It was to allow both driveways and bicycle paths to be used and to eliminate licenses.

The lieutenant-minister decided to withhold the bill review because there was no agreement between the ministries.

The National Police Agency and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security raised the question, "The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which is the department in charge of traffic safety, must first establish safety management standards before discussion can proceed, but it does nothing."

At the time, the subcommittee chairman Hong Ik-pyo concluded the discussion on the day, saying, "Do not hand over only to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, but also ask the police to determine their position by referring to case investigations or overseas legislation."

On May 12, 2020, discussions continued at the National Assembly's Council of Actions only a year and a half after the first meeting.

It was a meeting held at the same time as the 20th National Assembly was about to end.

After the first meeting, the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Industry, etc. formed a TF to organize government opinions in response to the criticism not to wait only for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

However, in the end, the crossing between the ministries was not resolved.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport continued to maintain its position that "there are no laws and regulations in jurisdiction that contain safety standards for electric kickboards to be classified as low-bikes."

In the end, the government TF agreed on an opinion that the Ministry of Industry announces safety standards for products called electric kickboards and revises them to the Road Traffic Act of the National Police Agency.

So, the electric kickboard followed the same way as it was applied to the electric bicycle.

On May 20, 2020, at the final plenary session of the 20th National Assembly, the amendment to the Road Traffic Act passed.

by the government There have been steadily raised voices within the government that safety standards and systems taking into account the characteristics of electric kickboards are needed.

In March 2019, when the relevant government TF was in full swing, the National Rights Commission analyzed complaints about electric kickboards and urged the TF to supplement the system.

Contrary to the complaint to block the use of bicycle roads, demands to allow bicycle roads to be operated were met.

There have also been many complaints requesting the enactment of separate laws for electric kickboards, such as prohibiting illegal modifications, installing parking lots, and expanding charging stations.

All were delivered to the relevant ministries such as the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Industry.

It was an order to consider how to prevent electric kickboard accidents and to think about separate measures different from electric bicycles.

However, the government only questioned where the governing department was.

This is the reason why the government's safety measures, which took 18 months, were full of poor evaluation.

National Assembly is also not free from responsibility,

.

An official from the HSC said, "While waiting for the government's proposal, we made a bill to allow only bicycle road traffic as soon as possible."

The revised Road Traffic Act is only an'intermediate stage' of safety measures.

However, between the 18 months the government tried to reach an agreement and the National Assembly waited, accidents related to electric kickboards were steadily increasing rapidly.

117 cases in 2017, 225 cases in 2018, and 447 cases in 2019, an increase that doubles every year.

It is difficult to accept the explanation that I came up with an'intermediate solution' while waiting.

An official from the National Assembly's National Assembly's National Assembly's Committee for Public Safety and Security also said, "There was a delay in waiting for the results to be requested by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport."

It put the responsibility back on the government.

However, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport confirmed that the research service was not related to the electric kickboard.

It was a study to find a solution to prevent time lag due to repeated conflicts over the location of the department in charge whenever a new means of transportation emerged.

In fact, neither the government nor the National Assembly discussed the safety measures for electric kickboards.

21st National Assembly, Congressman Hong Ki-won, a first elected member of the National Assembly, proposed a bill in consultation with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Even if they are 13 years of age or older, safety education is provided for youths, including parking methods and prohibition of remodeling.

In particular, the key was to set safety standards by Ordinance of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

The Department of Land, which is the department responsible for traffic safety, was to hold the key and prepare policies.

Representative Hong said, "The goal is to pass the plenary session within this year, but even if it does, it will take another year or so for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport to prepare detailed enforcement ordinances and enforcement rules."

In September 2018, the government made a promise to set a reasonable standard for driving and safety of electric kickboards at a meeting of ministers related to innovation and growth presided over by then-deputy Prime Minister Kim Dong-yeon.

The deadline was June 2019.

However, until now, there are virtually no safety measures for electric kickboards other than just imitating electric bicycles.

Even if the proposition passes within this year and the relevant laws are quickly reorganized, the government promised deadline will be delayed by at least two and a half years.

Experts contend that we should even limit the speed.

From the 10th of next month, the electric kickboard will be able to pass through the bicycle path, increasing the likelihood of a collision with pedestrians, so the maximum speed should be lowered from the current 25km.

In fact, in Australia, it is known that the maximum speed of electric kickboards is limited to 12 km/h, instead of restricting access to the roadway.

In former Congressman Hong Eui-rak, who first initiated a related bill in the National Assembly in 2016, there is a content that is reduced to 10 km/h in places where pedestrians may collide.

In particular, it is said that such a measure is possible only by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and the National Police Agency revising the current related laws and regulations, making it easier to coordinate opinions between ministries.

There are many self-help concerns that a countermeasure will come out only after a human accident occurs.

You have to come up with measures you can do as soon as possible.

It's already late.