Fire trucks cameras clamp down on unyielding drivers

By Lee Hyo-sik

Staff reporter

Fire trucks will be equipped with surveillance cameras as early as August in a bid to crack down on drivers who do not yield or block the path of the emergency vehicles, the National Emergency Management Agency said Thursday.

The agency said cameras installed on fire trucks will photograph the license plates of cars that do not either give way or block the road. These will then be handed over to the police and the drivers will be slapped with a fine of up to 200,000 won ($180).

Under the current traffic law, drivers are required to stop the car as close to the right side of the road as possible to let fire trucks and other emergency vehicles pass. But drivers not doing so have rarely been punished because there was no hard evidence, such as a photo, which proved they had broken the law.

"It is very important to get to the scene of a fire as quickly as possible to save lives and minimize property losses. Usually, we can extinguish a fire successfully if we arrive at the scene within five minutes from ignition," an agency officer said. "But in reality, it is almost impossible for us to get to a fire quickly because of traffic congestion. We need the full cooperation of motorists. But often, that is not the case."

The agency is currently consulting with the Ministry of Public Administration and Security and other relevant government bodies to revise fire and traffic laws, allowing firefighters to clamp down on illegal parking and issue tickets to law-breaking drivers.

It is also proposing to make one lane of all major roads across the nation designated as a "fire truck-only lane" in June so that fire trucks and other emergency vehicles can get to the scene of an accident quickly.

소방차에 단속카메라 설치

이르면 8월부터 모든 소방차에 단속카메라를 설치해 진로를 양보하지 않는 차량 소유자를 강력하게 단속한다고 소방방재청이 목요일 밝혔다.

소방방재청은 대형화재 등 긴급 상황 발생시 출동로를 확보하기 위해 이 같은 방안을 추진할 것이라고 말했다.

소방차가 촬영한 증거는 경찰에 넘겨지며 진로를 막거나 양보를 하지 않은 것이 명백할 경우 현행 도로교통법 29에 따라 20만원 이하의 벌금이나 구류 처해지거나 과태료를 부담해야 한다.

그 동안 소방공무원은 단속 근거가 없어 진로를 양보하지 않더라도 차량의 운전자들이 처벌을 받는 사례는 극히 드물었다.