Gyeonggi Province Designates 4 Cities as Traffic Safety Model Cities

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 1st that it has designated four cities within the province—Ansan, Pyeongtaek, Paju, and Yangju—which have high traffic accident rates, as 'Traffic Safety Model Cities.'

A total of 12 billion won will be invested in these four model cities over three years to establish both short and long-term traffic safety measures to suppress traffic accidents, and projects tailored to each region's characteristics will be promoted.

The province reviewed applications from seven cities and counties for the Traffic Safety Model City designation, conducting assessments based on traffic accident occurrence status, the cities and counties' commitment to promoting traffic safety projects, project implementation plans and ripple effects by sector, and made this decision accordingly.

The province plans to first conduct city-specific traffic safety diagnoses with participation from specialized institutions such as the Korea Road Traffic Authority and Korea Transportation Safety Authority, and on the basis of the diagnostic results, prepare customized short and long-term traffic safety measures.

Based on this, this year will see the launch of projects that can be immediately improved, such as installing traffic lights ahead at intersections, installing diagonal crosswalks, designating pedestrian priority zones, and establishing senior safety zones.

Projects requiring substantial budget allocation, such as improving accident-prone areas and dangerous road improvement projects, will be promoted sequentially once budget is secured.

Additionally, to raise citizens' traffic safety awareness, the province decided to actively implement traffic safety education for seniors and children and traffic order campaigns in cooperation with the respective local governments, police departments, and civic organizations.

The province expects that through the operation of the model cities, the current death rate of 3.2 per 10,000 vehicles can be reduced to 2 per 10,000 vehicles, the OECD average level, by 2010.

An official from the province stated, "The designated cities are regions where traffic accidents frequently occur, with death rates ranging from 2.8 to 5.6 per 10,000 vehicles," and added, "We plan to first establish short and long-term measures and then promote projects starting with areas that can be improved, focusing on road corridors with high accident occurrences."