"Death from Not Wearing a Seatbelt"... Police Launch 'Good Driving' Campaign

Development of Unmanned Enforcement Devices for Detecting Seatbelt Non-Compliance

"Seatbelt on! Helmet on!" Police are launching a campaign to establish a voluntary traffic safety culture.

The National Police Agency announced on July 29 that it will carry out the "Good Driving" campaign to move from enforcement-driven crackdowns on traffic law violations to fostering a traffic culture where drivers voluntarily follow the basics. This campaign aims to address issues such as failing to wear seatbelts or helmets, retaliatory driving, and failure to use turn signals—which, despite being basic rules every driver should follow, become the cause of fatal accidents if ignored.

Police are cracking down on drunk driving and vehicles stopping beyond the stop line in a school zone near Nonhyeon Elementary School in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News.

Notably, the fatality rate for not wearing a seatbelt or helmet is more than twice as high as when they are worn, and the number of public reports for failure to use turn signals ranked second from 2023 to 2025, indicating low compliance rates.

The dangers of not wearing a seatbelt, which drivers may easily neglect, are revealed through real-life accident cases. In April 2026, in Dongcheon-dong, Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, a car crossed the center line on a two-lane road, crashed into the guardrail of the opposite lane, and then fell into a riverside park. All four occupants, including the driver, who had not fastened their seatbelts, died in the accident. In January of this year, two passengers also died when a vehicle crashed into a guardrail near the Guri tollgate on the Seoul Metropolitan Area 1st Circular Expressway in Guri, Gyeonggi Province; neither had been wearing seatbelts at the time.

The police will accompany the Good Driving campaign with practical institutional reforms, on-site enforcement, and equipment development. First, from August 1 for two months, there will be a concentrated period of public education and guidance, followed by active enforcement from October until the end of the year. On-site crackdowns will focus on high-accident zones and hazardous sections such as highway entry and exit ramps. The police also plan to check for seatbelt usage during drunk driving patrols and traffic management on commuting routes.

In addition, the enforcement regulations of the Road Traffic Act will be amended to introduce demerit points for currently fine-only violations, such as ▲ failure to wear a seatbelt in a car seat, ▲ failure to wear a helmet, and ▲ noncompliance with signaling when turning or changing lanes in vehicles. Following deliberation and resolution by the National Police Commission on July 20, the amendment will soon be pre-announced for legislation.

The development of unmanned enforcement devices capable of detecting not just traffic light and speeding violations but also seatbelt non-compliance is also under consideration. These devices would photograph the front of vehicles to check whether front-row occupants are wearing seatbelts, and a pilot operation will be conducted before official implementation.

Lee Seoyoung, Director of the Life Safety and Traffic Bureau at the National Police Agency, stated, "There are limits to relying solely on enforcement to reduce traffic fatalities. Through this campaign, we hope to instill small habits—such as wearing seatbelts and helmets and turning on blinkers—so that a proper traffic safety culture for the protection of everyone can take root."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.