Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency Strengthens Agricultural Machinery Safety Network for Harvest Season

Joint Prevention Efforts with NongHyup
Strengthening Protection for Older Farmers and Prevention of Nighttime Rear-End Collisions

Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency is strengthening cooperation with relevant organizations to prevent agricultural machinery traffic accidents during the autumn harvest season and protect older farmers.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency [Photo by Kwon Byeonggeon]

Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency (Commissioner Park Heonsu) said on October 19 that it held a meeting and joint traffic safety campaign to prevent agricultural machinery accidents on October 16 at the agricultural machinery service center of Seo Pohang Nonghyup in Pohang, together with NH NongHyup Insurance's Gyeongbuk Headquarters and Seo Pohang Nonghyup.

The event was organized to proactively address the increased risk of traffic accidents as agricultural machinery use rises during the harvest season and to raise farmers' awareness of safe operation through cooperation among relevant organizations.

Attendees at the meeting included Seol Jaewook, head of the Traffic Division at Pohang Bukbu Police Station; Gam Eungman, head of NH NongHyup Insurance's Gyeongbuk Headquarters; and Kim Joorak, head of Seo Pohang Nonghyup. They discussed joint measures to prevent agricultural machinery accidents.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency shared data on agricultural machinery traffic accidents in the province and recent cases, and explained preventive measures based on an analysis of accident risk factors.

At the joint campaign that followed, the organizers informed local farmers about safe operating practices for agricultural machinery and the importance of ensuring visibility at night.

In particular, to prevent rear-end collisions involving agricultural machinery, they distributed traffic safety items including Wangnuni stickers, rear-mounted reflective stickers, LED safety triangles, and vehicle fire extinguishers.

Police are stepping up preventive efforts, identifying the potential decline in older drivers' ability to perceive and respond, as well as the difficulty of spotting agricultural machinery at night, as key risk factors.

To this end, they are visiting agricultural machinery dealers and locations frequented by older adults to provide tailored traffic safety education. In cooperation with relevant organizations, they are also working to improve visibility by installing lights on the rear wheels of agricultural machinery and attaching reflective stickers.

Police also plan to increase road patrols during periods when agricultural machinery is frequently on the move and continue accident prevention outreach aimed at both agricultural machinery operators and drivers of regular vehicles.

Gyeongbuk Police Agency Steps Up Efforts to Prevent Farm Equipment Accidents During the Fall Harvest Season
Joint Campaign with NH NongHyup Insurance and Seopohang Nonghyup
Focus on Ensuring the Safety of Older Farmers
[Photo by Gyeongbuk Police Agency]

Park Kyungjoon, head of the Traffic Division at Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency, said, "Agricultural machinery accidents can lead to serious loss of life, so prevention in advance is more important than anything else. The police cannot address this alone, so we will do our utmost to reduce accident risks in cooperation with relevant organizations."

Traffic safety involving agricultural machinery is an important everyday safety issue linked to the aging population in rural areas.

In particular, as agricultural machinery use on roads increases during the harvest season, driver education must be accompanied by measures to ensure visibility at night and cautious driving by drivers of regular vehicles.

It is important that this joint campaign lead beyond one-off publicity efforts to the distribution of safety equipment and on-the-ground prevention activities.

The effectiveness of rural traffic safety efforts depends not on the number of campaigns held, but on how much they actually reduce the risk of accidents.

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