Mostly, it's adults' fault
By Kim Rahn
A traffic-related bill was passed at the National Assembly recently to give heavier punishment to drivers responsible for accidents in school zones.
The law is dubbed the “Min-sik Law,” named after nine-year-old Kim Min-sik who died in September after being run over by a speeding car in a school zone in Asan, South Chungcheong Province.
Under the law, a driver who kills a child aged under 13 while driving in a school zone at a speed faster than the limit of 30 kilometers per hour will be sentenced to a minimum three-year jail term, and those who injure a child will be sentenced to a prison term between one and 15 years or be fined between 5 million won and 30 million won.
Min-sik's parents, along with other parents who lost their children in traffic accidents, pleaded for months to have this and other traffic safety bills passed, collecting signatures from the public and meeting lawmakers numerous times. When the bill was passed, they said even though the law wouldn't bring their beloved son back, they hope it would keep other children safe.
Like them, I welcomed the passage of the bill, expecting the law to protect children at least around schools, where pedestrian safety should be guaranteed.
However, the bill has drawn unexpected reactions.
There have been claims posted online that drivers causing accidents will be punished automatically without considering who is at fault.
“The law is unfair because a driver will be jailed if a child suddenly appears on the road out of nowhere and gets killed,” one such posting read. “The law passes the buck to drivers,” another read.
Even some lawyers said on YouTube that the law was unfair compared to other criminal laws, saying in most traffic accidents, the driver is charged with negligence, not a deliberate offense, and it is too harsh to give a three-year prison term for negligence without considering how much the victim and the driver are at fault.
Yes, a driver may feel this is unfair if they are punished for an accident where a child jumps out of nowhere and is hit.
However, when seen from my four years of experience on the traffic control volunteer squad, it is not children but adults who commit most traffic violations and who create dangerous situations.
I've been a member of “Green Mothers,” a group of parent volunteers who, with flags and whistles, guide children across the road safely in the morning on their way to school, especially at crosswalks without traffic lights.
At my daughter's school, each member does the volunteer activity only two to three times a year for around 30 minutes each session. But during the short time of activity, I've learned a lot about how adults ignore traffic rules.
Children abide by the volunteers' guidance almost all the time, even when they are late for school, not crossing when the volunteers do not allow them as cars are coming.
But many adults ― employees heading to work, college students, even parents walking their children to school ― often do not do so. Even when the volunteers are holding the flag to prevent pedestrians from crossing, adults ignore it and cross the street.
Of course adults can read the traffic flow better than children and manage to avoid running cars. However, if adults do not abide by the traffic volunteers' direction, some children tend to follow the adults ― which could be dangerous for children.
Some parents drop their children off at school, and they stop their cars right in front of the school gate or just near the crosswalk ― locations where school authorities tell them not to stop because the vehicles would block the children's view of oncoming vehicles. For their own children's convenience, such parents risk the safety of other children, who could be their classmates.
Some drivers may say they can't see a child coming if the child appears suddenly between cars parked by the roadside. But such sudden appearances will not happen if adults do not park their vehicles illegally in school zones. And if a car is going less than 30 kilometers per hour, the driver would easily notice a child's appearance.
Before criticizing the Min-sik Law for being harsh, adults need to first strictly abide by traffic regulations. If they still think the law is problematic even after abiding by the rules, then the nation could discuss amending it.
The writer (rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr) is city editor of The Korea Times.