On Jan. 27, traffic is crawling on the southbound lanes near Jamwon IC on the Gyeongbu Expressway in Seocho-gu, Seoul, due to the influx of homecoming vehicles. /Courtesy of News1 According to the Korea Expressway Corporation, it is projected that 4.84 million vehicles will travel nationwide that day, with 440,000 moving from the metropolitan area to the provinces and 390,000 from the provinces to the metropolitan area.

An analysis has found that accidents involving cars being rear-ended surge the day before the Lunar New Year holiday. The day before the Lunar New Year holiday refers to the day before the three days of statutory holidays surrounding the actual holiday, including the day itself. This year, it falls on the 27th.

The General Insurance Association and the Insurance Development Institute analyzed the occurrences of personal injury accidents related to automobile insurance during the Lunar New Year holiday from 2022 to last year, revealing that accidents the day before the holiday average 12,052 per day, which is 13.6% higher than the usual 10,608. The accident rate is also 17.8%, which is 2.3 percentage points higher than the normal rate of 15.5%.

Among these, personal injury accidents average 3,898 per day, 16.7% higher than the usual 3,341. Notably, the number of personal injury accidents due to rear-end collisions from vehicle congestion was 1,683, which is 27.9% higher than usual.

On the day of the Lunar New Year, many families tend to travel together by car, resulting in an average of 2.3 victims per accident, which is 58.3% more than usual. The number of victims under 20 during the holiday period was also 57.2% higher than usual.

Looking at the times accidents occur, the greatest number happened after 2 p.m. the day before the holiday. During the holiday period, the hours from midnight to 4 a.m. and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. recorded the most victims.

Victims of drunk driving increased by 9.2% and 10.9% respectively on the day before and the day after the Lunar New Year. On the day of the holiday, the number of victims in unlicensed driving incidents was found to be 79.7% higher than usual.

The General Insurance Association urged, "Before driving, inspect the vehicle, ensure a safe distance between cars, and avoid changing lanes on bridges to prioritize safe driving."