Diesel Vehicles

[Anchor Lead]

Seoul City on Wednesday restricted the operation of outdated diesel vehicles for the first time in efforts to reduce fine dust. But diesel cars relatively recently produced are also found to be producing emissions above permissible levels.

[Pkg]

Seoul city officials are monitoring vehicles that are not allowed to enter the capital city through security camera footage. Those subject to the ban are diesel cars registered before 2005. The permissible limit of nitrogen oxide emissions applied back then was 0.5 grams per kilometer. So have emission levels improved for newer vehicles manufactured after the standards were tightened? Together with an NGO that specializes in exhaust gas measurement, KBS has examined emission levels of seven randomly selected diesel models registered past the year 2011. Two to three cars of each model were tested according to international regulations. Emissions were measured as they actually drove on the road. Results show that six out of the seven models produced higher levels of nitrogen oxide than the current restrictions applied as part of fine dust reduction measures. Three tested cars of a domestic SUV brand were fairly new, made in 2012, with mileage less than 70-thousand kilometers, but they all produced an average 1.83 grams of nitrogen oxide per kilometer. That's nearly four times the current limit preventing vehicles from running in the capital city. All these cars had passed regular auto inspections.

[Soundbite] Kim Jong-min(Researcher, Emissions Analytics Korea) : "The current method of restrictions and penalties solely based on the model year is not effective in reducing fine dust."

Even if a car is not very old, after the warranty period expires, the drivers are often unaware of failures in emission-related auto parts or fail to have them fixed. In order to fight air pollution, it's necessary to thoroughly inspect individual cars and their conditions rather than restricting car use solely by the model year.