Lack of highway rest stops threatens lives

By Lee Tae-hoon

State auditors urged the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs (MLTM) to seek ways to build more rest stops on highways in an effort to tackle the growing problem of drowsy driving in a report released Wednesday.

“We advise the minister to readjust the intervals between rest stations on highways in consideration of related issues, such as profitability and the safety of drivers,” the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) said in the report.

The proportion of crashes caused by drivers who fell asleep at the wheel jumped from 17.1 percent in 1999 to 23.6 percent in 2008, according to a government-funded road safety study completed in Dec. 2009.

It also concluded that intervals between rest areas should be no longer than 25 kilometers on expressways to reduce traffic accidents resulting from sleep deprivation or fatigue.

The Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements has released a study that illustrates a strong co-relation between the number of traffic accidents and the intervals of service stations on freeways.

The BAI called for the MLTM to revise its policy that states the distance between rest stops on roads should be between 25 kilometers and 50 kilometers.

The state auditor also recommended the ministry to include smaller female dummies in its crash tests as the standard dummy, which is 178 centimeters tall and weighs 75 kilograms, overlooks the real characteristics of Korean women’s bodies.

It underlined that the MLTM’s crash test method leaves room for women to be more vulnerable to physical injuries when involved in a traffic accident, considering that airbags and other protective devices are built more in line with male body types.

“As of the end of 2009, the number of female drivers surpassed 10 million, accounting for some 39 percent of the total,” the BAI said, adding that the number of accidents involving women drivers has increased more than 6 percent annually.