Police to crack down on 'drunk bicycling'

A cyclist yawns while riding his Ttareungyi bike to work after the Chuseok holidays, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Lee Suh-yoon

Bicycling, an increasingly popular means of transport among Seoul residents, is now subject to “drunk riding” fines, according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Thursday.

The ministry and police said a new transportation law would come into effect Friday following a six-month grace period.

Any cyclists caught with blood alcohol levels over 0.05 percent will be fined 30,000 won ($27) for violating the traffic regulation. Those who refuse to comply with the police's sobriety test will be fined 100,000 won.

The police, however, will not start waving breathalyzers along bike paths right away.

“We will first raise awareness about this new regulation with signposts and campaigns. The official police checks will start in December,” an official at the National Police Agency confirmed with The Korea Times.

Bicycling has carved out a niche for itself as a popular means of transportation for Koreans, especially in Seoul which has vastly improved its biking infrastructure over the years to promote a greener lifestyle.

The number of users for Ttareungyi, a cheap and widely-used bike rental service started in 2015 by Seoul Metropolitan Government, recently surpassed 950,000 — one 10th of the total population of Seoul.

Bikers enjoying alcoholic beverages at convenience stores or on picnic mats along the Han River, however, is not an uncommon sight.

According to a government report last year, 586 out of 4,833 surveyed bicycle users — about 12 percent — admitted to having bicycled while drunk.

“Reports show one out of eight bicycle riders have experience with drunk cyling,“ a ministry official said. “It's not only dangerous for the rider but to other people as well.”

The fine for drunk bicycling is a lot heftier in neighboring Japan, where one can be fined up one million won.

Wearing bike helmets will also become compulsory under the new traffic law. But it will not be enforced with a fine like drunk bicycling due to extreme scarcity of bike helmets on the roads and a public backlash.

“At the moment, we are not applying any concrete punishment for breaking the helmet regulation; such specifics will be pursued after social consensus has been made on the issue,” the official said.