Relying on Driver Assistance When Tired on the Way Home Can Lead to Accidents

Drivers returning from the Chuseok holiday must remain vigilant about traffic accidents.

On the 26th, vehicles are moving in the northbound (left) and southbound lanes of the Gyeongbu Expressway near Jamwon IC, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

According to the Korea Road Traffic Authority on September 27, an analysis of the past five years (2021–2025) shows that both drunk driving and expressway accidents increased during the Chuseok holiday period. Accidents involving drunk driving accounted for 8.7% of all traffic accidents, which is 2.2 percentage points higher than the usual rate of 6.5%. The proportion of expressway accidents was also higher at 3.5%, up by 0.9 percentage points compared to the 2.6% average for the entire period.

During the Chuseok holiday, when traffic is concentrated on expressways, the daily average number of traffic accidents was 426, actually lower than the average of 541 per day during other times of the year. However, there were 165.8 casualties per 100 accidents, 15.4% higher than the general period average of 143.7. This indicates that the scale of human injuries per accident was relatively greater during the holiday period.

In particular, the Authority cautioned drivers when using adaptive cruise control (ACC), which automatically adjusts the distance to the vehicle in front and maintains speed. This feature is often used to reduce fatigue on long drives. Over the past five years, 30 accidents occurred on expressways involving the use of ACC, resulting in 20 fatalities. The Authority emphasized that drivers must reduce speed or brake manually according to road and traffic conditions, as the system may not respond immediately to unexpected situations such as sudden lane cutting, abrupt stops in congested sections, or road debris.

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