Crosswalking elementary school student dies after being hit by a bus… Right turn traffic accidents. Hundreds of accidents every year

An elementary school student crossing the crosswalk was hit and killed by a city bus turning right.

According to the Gwangju Northern Police on the 12th, an elementary school student just started crossing while waiting for a signal on a crosswalk in Buk-gu, Gwangju at around 5:05 p.m. the previous day.

A city bus driven by A in his 50s turned right and crashed into the elementary school student without finding him. The victim elementary school student was immediately taken to a hospital at the scene of the accident, but died.

It was found that the accident point was not a child protection zone.

The police believe that A caused an accident while turning right without finding an elementary school student on the side of the road. A has been booked and investigated without detention on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases concerning Traffic Accident Handling.

Hundreds of right-turn traffic accidents occur in Gwangju every year, causing a number of casualties.

According to traffic accident statistics compiled by the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency, there were about 1,000 casualties every year, including 470 (6 deaths and 695 injuries) in 2017, 649 (3 deaths and 940 injuries) in 2018, 816 (3 deaths and 1,234 injuries) in 2019, 721 in 2020, and 662 in 2021.

In order to prevent such right-turn traffic accidents, the government established measures to reduce traffic deaths in 2022 in February this year and will implement them from July. From July, drivers must stop not only when pedestrians are crossing at crosswalks but also when trying to cross.

In addition, from January next year, a new obligation to pause will be introduced when turning right at an intersection.