The government and the National Assembly have begun drawing up regulatory plans for personal mobility devices (PM) such as electric scooters. The key issues are whether to mandate identity verification for those age 16 and older and whether to lower the PM top speed to 20 kph.
The Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee's subcommittee on bill review discussed on the 4th legislative proposals submitted by lawmakers from both parties to establish a law on PM. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also attended with a government proposal. Earlier, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Democratic Party agreed in a party-government consultation to prepare PM regulatory measures.
◇ Electric scooter crashes increased twentyfold in six years… moving toward a top speed cap
Electric scooter traffic accidents rose from 117 in 2017 to more than 2,300 in 2023. That is a twentyfold increase in six years. Of the accidents, 34% involved unlicensed driving, and 67% of those were teenagers. In response, some said there needs to be a system that can reduce PM accidents while activating the related industry.
There are 12 PM-related bills currently introduced in the National Assembly. Interest is high across both parties, to the point that Democratic Party lawmaker Bok Gi-wang and People Power Party lawmaker Kwon Young-jin jointly introduced a bill.
Members of the assembly's transport committee have begun drafting a compromise. They reached consensus on the aims of invigorating PM-related industries and ensuring user safety. Accordingly, both parties and the government agree on a "PM top speed limit."
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) proposed lowering the top speed set at 25 kph under the Road Traffic Act to 20 kph. Vice Minister Kang Hee-eop of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) said, "We judge that lowering the top speed to 20 kph would have a very large effect in reducing accidents." Son Myung-su, a Democratic Party lawmaker and former Vice Minister at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), also agreed. Son said, "There are crash test results showing that lowering urban driving speeds for cars from 60 kph to 50 kph reduces fatal accidents by 90%," adding, "For PM as well, there is a huge difference in collisions between 25 kph and 20 kph." People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Jeom-sik also expressed support for regulating the top speed.
◇ Introduce a PM-only driver qualification? Restrict use to those age 16 and older?
However, views diverge on "introducing a PM-only driver qualification" and "mandating identity verification for those age 16 and older."
Bae Seong-ho, director general for mobility at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "Currently, under the Road Traffic Act, we mandate verification of a driver's license for at least a moped license," adding, "The first alternative is to create a PM-only driver qualification based on an online test, and the second alternative is to mandate a system that verifies whether a user is 16 or older."
On this, People Power Party lawmaker Jeong Jeom-sik said, "If we introduce a dedicated qualification, there could be criticism that we are actually strengthening regulation," adding, "Let's automatically grant qualification if people above a certain age complete online education."
Democratic Party lawmaker Son Myung-su also said, "Globally, aside from Singapore, there are almost no countries that require a license," adding, "Creating a new license or requiring a moped license does not fit reality and is excessive regulation that is neither observed in practice nor realistic." He continued, "Identity verification alone has significant effect," proposing an alternative to strengthen identity verification procedures through group insurance.
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Hee-jeong said of the age limit of "16," "At 16, middle school students would not qualify," adding, "We also need to decide whether to allow middle school students to use PM or only high school students." France and Germany set the age limit at 14 and older.
As a result, the Land Infrastructure and Transport Committee's bill subcommittee failed to reach a conclusion on the 4th on the PM bill. The subcommittee will hold a public hearing on the 15th to hear opinions from users and the industry.