Electric kickbords remain idle on a road in Seoul on May 25, 2021. The use of kickbords has been on a sharp decrease since the amended road traffic law allowing only people over age 16 with licenses and safety helmets to drive personal mobility vehicles took effect on May 13. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 13 (Korea Bizwire) – A revised Road Traffic Act that mandates the creation of exclusive parking spaces for personal mobility vehicles such as electric kickboards took effect on Tuesday.
The legal revision guides users of personal mobility vehicles to park in designated spaces by mandating the installation of safety signs and lines for parking personal mobility vehicles.
The police will be in charge of making decisions on where to create the parking zones after hosting deliberation committees. Funding for the development of the new parking zones will come from municipal governments.
Thus far, shared electric kickboards have been left haphazardly on streets and sidewalks since there were few designated parking spaces.
Personal mobility vehicles left indiscriminately by bus stops and subway stations have hindered the passage of pedestrians.
Starting from Thursday, six of Seoul’s 25 district offices will impound illegally parked shared electric kickboards, a first in the country.
Operators of the shared electric kickboards that are parked illegally and then impounded will be charged 40,000 won (US$34.90) and a storage cost of 700 won per 30 minutes.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
