[Courtesy of Police Times]
Concentrated crosswalk illumination installed by police in the southern port city of Busan for the first time turned out to be very effective in reducing traffic accidents.
Traffic accidents at zebra crossing fell 34.2 percent last year after spotlights were installed to illuminate the path of pedestrians, police in Busan said. More encouraging is that the rate of traffic deaths at the crosswalks fell by 100 percent.
For the first time in South Korea, police in Busan launched a pilot project in late 2015 to install crosswalk spotlights. Currently, 371 crosswalks across the city have such illumination.
According to an online newspaper, Police Times, many drivers and pedestrians expressed satisfaction. "It was hard to tell a pedestrian from other objects at night. But now, I feel more comfortable to drive because I can see if a person is crossing the road or not from far away," an unnamed driver in Busan was quoted as saying.
"I feel much safer now because the drivers will see me from a mile away when I am crossing the road," said a pedestrian.
Buoyed by their unexpected success, the police agency in Busan urged other regions to follow suit. For drivers, visibility was extended from 74 meters (80 yards) to 116 meters while pedestrians stepped up vigilance considerably in crossing the street at a crosswalk.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
