As the summer vacation season approaches, attention is required as rental car accidents are frequent.
According to the Korea Road Traffic Authority (KOROAD) traffic accident analysis system (TASS) on the 6th, there were 9,110 traffic accidents caused by rental cars last year. As a result, 79 people died and 13,464 were injured.
Rental car accidents are the second most common among commercial vehicles, following taxis (12,248 cases).
However, when looking solely at drunk driving accidents, rental car accidents were overwhelmingly more frequent than other commercial vehicles such as taxis, buses, and trucks. Of the 981 drunk driving accidents caused by commercial vehicles last year, approximately 73%, or 717 cases, were rental car accidents, far exceeding trucks (69 cases) and taxis (39 cases).
In Jeju Island, where rental cars are considered essential due to inconvenient public transportation, accidents tend to concentrate during the summer vacation season in July and August. Over the last three years, the average number of rental car accidents per month in Jeju during July and August was 42.8 cases, which was higher than the average of 36.9 cases over the remaining 10 months. During the same period, there was no significant difference in monthly rental car accidents across the rest of the country, excluding Jeju.
Rental car accidents during vacation season often occur when drivers are unfamiliar with the surrounding geography or roads. Additionally, some accidents happen due to drowsy driving while trying to stick to a tight schedule, or from drinking and driving under the influence of a festive atmosphere.
The road traffic authority urged drivers to thoroughly understand their route and rest stops before driving to their destination to prevent rental car accidents, and to take adequate breaks if they plan to drive long distances or have consumed alcohol.