Currently, electric kickboards are legally categorized as cars, which prevents them from being used on pedestrian or bicycle paths. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The Seoul Southern District Court sentenced a defendant referred to only as ‘A’ (49) to 14 months in jail with a stay of execution for three years.
The defendant was charged after hitting a pedestrian with his electric kickboard in a state of inebriation.
While intoxicated, he rode an electric kickboard on a side road in front of a park in Geumcheon district in Seoul in Oct. 2019, and collided with a pedestrian ‘B’ (29).
The pedestrian who was hit by the electric kickboard suffered injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment in the hospital.
When the accident occurred, the kickboard rider was intoxicated with his blood alcohol content estimated at 0.18 percent, a level high enough to have his driver’s license revoked.
Even after being charged, he was caught again in March while drunk driving a van without a driver’s license.
The court said, “The Automobile Management Act applies to electric kickboards since they are two-wheel automobiles. Making things worse, even when the trial was on, the defendant committed another drunk driving infraction without a driver’s license.”
The prosecutor alleged that the defendant also violated the Automobile Liability Guarantee Act since his electric kickboard was not insured when the accident occurred.
The court, however, dismissed the allegation, saying that although electric kickboards are subject to mandatory insurance, social recognition about this is extremely low.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
