Seatbelts to be required for all passengers from next month
Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
All car passengers will be required to wear seatbelts from the end of next month.
According to a new rule set to take effect on Sept. 28, all car passengers on all Korea's roads must wear seatbelts when their cars are in motion.
The driver will be fined 30,000 won ($27), if any passenger violates the rule. The fine will be 60,000 won if the passenger is 13 or younger.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, passengers in rear seats are less likely to buckle up (14.8 percent), compared with drivers (88.4 percent) and front-seat passengers (81.4 percent).
This is largely because many people think sitting in the back of a vehicle is safer than sitting in the front. But that belief may be out of date after advances in car safety have reduced the likelihood of getting injured or killed while riding in the front seats, while protection systems for backseat passengers have improved relatively less.
According to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, a passenger not wearing a seatbelt is 16 times more likely to be injured in a car crash.