Some 93 percent of the parents of children and teens living in Sejong say they do not need any electric kick scooter sharing systems in the city, a survey showed Tuesday.
Kim Hyo-sook, city council member of South Korea's youngest city in terms of average age, commissioned the survey from the Sejong City Office of Education of 4,325 parents in the area whose children are currently in kindergarten, elementary, middle or high school. A total of 4,025 said they do not need shared kick scooters in the city center.
About 90 percent of all respondents, 3,914, said they would agree to outlawing shared kick scooters in general. Of the reasons cited were: concerns over accidents related to cars (36 percent), concerns for pedestrian safety (36 percent) and problems related to neglected scooters (28 percent).
The overwhelming majority -- 73 percent -- of the respondents said that minors using shared kicked scooters without a license is their most pressing concern about their use.
Sejong's population has the lowest average age out of all metropolitan or provincial governments in the country, marking 38.9 as of July while the average ages in regions across the rest of the country are all over 40. It also has the highest percentage of minors -- 22.1 percent -- meaning safety concerns over minors operating kick scooters in Sejong is possibly higher than in any other region.
Safety concerns regarding electric kick scooters have been a hotly-disputed issue here, particularly on the coattails of multiple accidents involving the micro-mobility vehicles. Three middle school students on Sunday collided with a taxi in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, injuring themselves, while operating an electric kick scooter without a valid license.
Electric kick scooters are legally categorized as personal mobility devices that require at least a driving license for motorcycles with smaller engines -- having engine displacement of up to 125 cubic centimeters -- or electric bikes of up to 11 kilowatts. Such licenses are issued to those aged at least 16.
According to the National Police Agency, personal mobility drivers caused 7,854 accidents from 2019 to 2023, leading to 87 deaths and 8,665 injuries.
Underage and unlicensed drivers on kick scooters have been a particular problem in Korea recently, as the procedure to check if one has a license is often neglected due to lax regulations. Two high school students on a single kick scooter fatally injured a woman in her 60s in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province in June, touching off nationwide concern over their safety.
