This image, provided by the North Gyeongsang Provincial Office of Education, shows a traffic sign marking a 30 kilometer per hour speed limit school zone.
SEOUL, Aug. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The school zone speed limit will be eased to up to 50 kilometers per hour from the current 30 kph during the night and early morning hours beginning next month, police said Tuesday.
Under the revision, which will go into force Friday, the speed limit around schools, namely school zones, will be raised to a maximum of 50 kph between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. when there are fewer student pedestrians, the National Police Agency said.
The specific operating hours of the eased speed limits will be determined for each school zone according to their traffic conditions.
Since March 2020, a 30 kph speed cap has been enforced in nearly all school zones nationwide at all times, sparking a call for a relaxation.
According to a survey of 400 school teachers and parents of students conducted recently by KoROAD, the national traffic safety agency, 75 percent said the blanket school zone speed limit is “inefficient.”
Police also said they will tighten the speed limit to 30 kph during weekday hours near the beginning and end of school at some school zones where a 50 kph limit is currently enforced.
Currently, a 50 kph speed limit is exceptionally applied at about 10 percent of school zones nationwide due to traffic issues.
Police will also expand crosswalks and other traffic signs around schools and step up traffic law enforcement activities to bolster the protection of children from traffic accidents.
(Yonhap)
