CHANGES SINCE E-SCOOTER REGULATIONS

[Anchor Lead]

Regulations on electric scooters were ramped up in May last year with the growing number of related accidents. Fines of up to 130-thousand won were enforced since that time. Here’s a look at whether the rules produced any changes during the first year of implementation.

[Pkg]

In this footage, an electric scooter pops out of nowhere on a residential alleyway, crashing with a passing vehicle. A rising number of such accidents led to tighter regulations since last May, but the street scene has not changed much. Here, a scooter rider leisurely crosses over the centerline of a four-lane road. Freewheeling scooters are everywhere, crisscrossing roads and sidewalks. But the riders have their reasons.

[Soundbite] (Electric Scooter Rider(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "There’s a speed limit to electric scooters, so when we see cars overtaking us, it is a little frightening."

However the scooters are an annoying nuisance to drivers.

[Soundbite] Gwon Hyeok-man(Taxi Driver) : "It’s difficult to spot electric scooters. If they appear from a diagonal rear end, it’s very nerve racking."

Sometimes more than one person ride a single scooter, and often with no safety helmets. Between last May and December, the police detected some 73-thousand violations in terms of illegal driving of personal mobility vehicles... which amounts to more than 300 cases per day. The violations vary, ranging from the absence of helmets to multiple riders on one vehicle. DUI cases also numbered over 2,000. The bigger concern is the rising tally of road accidents... which jumped from around 100 in 2017 to 17-hundred last year. A two fold increase is recorded each year.

[Soundbite] Jo Jae-hyeong(National Police Agency) : "Crackdowns are conducted in line with last year’s legal revision but the riding culture has yet to catch up."

Despite tougher regulations, clampdowns and accidents both continue to rise. Experts call for more refined laws to handle the growing crisis.