Car accidents most frequent 6-8 pm on Friday, Saturday

By Lee Hyo-sik

Staff Reporter

Pedestrians and drivers are advised to take extra caution between 6 and 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday because they are at a higher risk of being involved in traffic accidents, the Road Traffic Authority (ROTA) said Monday.

It said there were 977,535 traffic accidents last year across the country, killing 5,838 people and injuring 1.5 million. The number of accidents rose 2.5 percent from 2008, with traffic injuries increasing 3.1 percent. But those who were killed in car crashes inched down 0.5 percent over the one-year period.

The number of drivers or pedestrians treated for injuries for more than three weeks totaled 188,049, with 1.03 million being treated for between 5 and 21 days.

About 280,000 received medical treatment for less than five days.

Vehicle-to-vehicle collisions accounted for 78.3 percent of the all traffic accidents. Cars hitting pedestrians took up 14 percent, with 4 percent involving only one vehicle.

Drivers and pedestrians are more likely involved in mishaps on Friday and Saturday, when traffic is the heaviest, as 15.5 percent of all accidents took place on each day. Thursday accounted for 14.7 percent of all car crashes, followed closely by Monday at 14.6 percent.

Nearly 14 percent of all accidents occurred between 6 to 8 p.m. when commuters are on their way home; followed by 4 to 6 p.m. (12.5 percent) and 2 to 4 p.m. (12.2 percent).

About 21.4 percent of Korea’s traffic accidents took place in Gyeonggi Province, followed by Seoul at 19.7 percent and Incheon at 5.9 percent. The number of car crashes per 100,000 residents was the largest in Daejeon at 2,204, followed by Incheon at 2,181 and Gwangju at 2,171.

Among 16 large municipalities, South Jeolla Province posted the highest traffic deaths per 100,000 residents at 27.5, followed by North Gyeongsang Province at 26.4 and South Chungcheong Province at 25.8.