Daejeon City prepares an ordinance to tow shared electric kickboards (PM) and has a guidance period from June. Unlike Seoul City, in order to prevent self-towing by towing companies, towing is permitted only for PMs with warning notices roaming around.
Daejeon City is establishing a towing ordinance and a towing plan to reduce the confusion of PM towing. It is expected to be completed within this month at the earliest. The reason for the revision is to solve social problems caused by unauthorized neglect of personal mobility devices.
The main points of the new provisions of the ordinance are △ stipulating that the mayor of Daejeon Metropolitan City secure a space for stopping or parking personal mobility devices, △ allowing parking only in places where parking is permitted, △ allowing unauthorized personal mobility devices to be towed and stored, and △ required It is to allow the owner to charge the cost of doing so.
The biggest difference with Seoul City is that the towing company avoids a self-towing reporting system. In addition, crackdown procedures through public officials are followed to block the possibility of violating the law.
According to Article 35 of the current Road Traffic Act, only the police and designated public officials can take measures against illegally parked vehicles. Article 36 states that the chief of the police station or the mayor may act as an agent for all or part of the towing, storage and return of a car towed pursuant to Article 35 by a legal entity or individual who meets the qualifications. In other words, only when there is a judgment (regulation) that the public official is ‘towing the car’, the towing company can act as an agent for towing and other activities thereafter.
In Daejeon City, a pedestrian enforcement officer, a public servant on a tenure basis, attaches a notice to devices for which civil complaints have been received in advance. Warning notices are attached to devices parked in no-parking zones, and advance notifications are made. When a notice is issued, the company must relocate the equipment within one hour. If relocation is not carried out, only units authorized by officials to be towed will be towed by the towing company. It is explained that while avoiding indiscriminate towing, the convenience of civil petitioners was also considered.
In the meantime, the city of Seoul has been suffering from PM self-towing by towing companies. Tricky towing was prevalent, such as the towing company rearranging the electric kickboard to a no-parking zone, reporting it to the system, and then immediately collecting it. About 60-70% of the electric kickboard devices were collected within 5 minutes, which deteriorated the profitability of the PM industry. Accordingly, the Seoul Metropolitan Government recently submitted a budget proposal to the Seoul Metropolitan Council to reorganize the electric kickboard reporting system.
Daejeon City held a meeting at the end of April to collect opinions from the PM industry. △G-Cooter, △Singsing, △Swing, △Beam, △Alpaca, △Flower Road, and △Kakao T evaluated at the meeting that a positive PM culture could be established if order was maintained in a reasonable line about this traction ordinance.
However, the industry added that the uniqueness of last mile mobility should be considered. This is because Daejeon City’s ordinance is a ‘positive regulation’ method in which devices are not towed only in designated parking areas. Considering the property of last mile mobility, which maximizes convenience by moving to the destination, the position is that a free-floating method is needed.
Daejeon City plans to implement the ordinance in earnest from July after a guidance period with a detailed plan for PM towing from May to June.
An official from Daejeon City said, “This ordinance is not for the purpose of towing, but for the safety of citizens.”
Reporter Son Ji-hye [email protected]