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Recently, the number of users who ride electric scooters has decreased significantly. This is because wearing a helmet and holding a driver's license have become mandatory, but companies are complaining that the towing of illegally parked and parked kickboards has increased, making the burden even greater.



Reporter Lee Ho-gun pointed out whether there is a way to satisfy citizens' safety and convenience together.



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A road in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.



The electric kickboard blocking the entrance of the subway station is towed.



[Baekjeonggi/Towing company employee: About 20 or 30 cases per day (towing only)] Since



last July, the city of Seoul has towed 12,000 illegally parked electric kickboards.



The towing and storage fee for four months alone exceeded KRW 700 million.



Thanks to this, the number of reports of illegal parking was reduced by nearly half, but the burden on companies increased.



[Lee Dong-geun/Personal Mobility Industry Council Team Leader: Most of the companies started as small start-ups, so I don't think there are many companies that can survive for a long time.] There are also a lot



of complaints from users.



This is because the mandatory wearing of helmets, which has been in effect since May.



It is said that carrying a bulky helmet is far from reality.



[Park Jung-woo / Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do: Because it is inconvenient to carry a helmet. (Kickboard) It was comfortable, but I don't think I can use it much now... .]



After the helmet became compulsory, shared kickboard users were virtually cut in half.



A number of companies are withdrawing from the shared kickboard business due to the sharp drop in users and the burden of maintenance costs.



['Shared Kickboard' Company A: Once in Seoul, the number of operating units in three districts was moved to another district or a different local city…

.] There



is a need for a way to achieve both safety and convenience, but there is an opinion that lowering the speed limit to loosen the regulation and limiting the number of shared kickboards to prevent over-competition.



[Pilsu Kim/Professor of Future Automotive Engineering, Daelim University: The problem is that it is dying even though it is a future mobility business model.

I made the helmet to be worn at a top speed of less than 25km, but it is also important to lower it to less than 15km and take the helmet off.] At



the end of this month, the National Assembly and the Seoul Metropolitan Government held a series of discussion forums to improve the shared kickboard system, and are trying to find a win-win solution.



(Video editing: Park Chun-bae, VJ: Kim Hyeong-jin)