All passengers in taxis and inter-city and express buses must wear seatbelts from Nov. 24, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs announced Wednesday.

Under the newly revised regulation, the driver must inform the passengers to put seatbelts on and check if they have done so before departure.

Passengers including pregnant women, patients and those who cannot wear seatbelts for other physical reasons, such as obesity, will be excluded from the regulation.

Local buses will not be affected by the revised regulation.

The ministry also announced that taxi operators will have to supervise taxi drivers so that they do not lend taxis to a third person.

When violated once, the operator will be suspended for 60 days, and will be ordered to reduce the number of taxis it runs when violated the second time.

The taxi driver’s license will be nullified if the owner is discovered to have driven a taxi before getting the license.

For rural areas without regular buses, the ministry is allowing limited licenses which will enable the buses to adjust running hours more flexibly.

By Park Min-young  (claire@heraldcorp.com)