Despite Rising Sales of Devices Allowing Hands-Free Driving, Enforcement Stands at 'Zero' for 6 Years

[Anchor]

In South Korea, drivers are required to keep their hands on the steering wheel even when using autonomous driving features. However, devices that trick cars into thinking the driver is holding the wheel are widely distributed. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which had promised to crack down on these devices, has remained inactive for the past six years.

Morning Zoom-in by reporter Cho Min-ki.

[Reporter]

Tesla’s driving assistance feature, Autopilot, is not a fully autonomous driving system, meaning drivers must keep their eyes on the road and their hands on the steering wheel.

However, searching for Autopilot online brings up devices that deceive vehicle systems into thinking a human hand is resting on the wheel, commonly known as "helpers."

These are hook-shaped attachments for the steering wheel that act like a weight.

This black, ring-shaped product is the helper.

Let us check firsthand the difference in driving an autonomous vehicle with and without the helper attached.

First, we drove without the helper.

Just 10 seconds after letting go of the steering wheel, a warning message appeared, and in less than a minute, the autonomous driving function was forcibly shut off.

Next, we drove with the helper installed.

[I have taken both my hands and feet off for over three minutes now, and because the vehicle recognizes the helper as the driver's hand, it is not sounding any warning alarms.]

However, it was far from completely safe.

[Whoa. On sections with sharp curves, it fails to fully control the steering direction, making it quite perilous.]

Under the current Automobile Management Act, installing a helper is illegal.

Back in 2020, when vehicles equipped with Autopilot first began to be imported, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport also took action by sending official letters to online shopping malls requesting restrictions on helper sales.

However, an SBS investigation confirmed that over the past six years, there has not been a single case of enforcement or penalization regarding the sale or attachment of helpers by either the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport or the National Police Agency.

Meanwhile, helpers are being widely distributed, centered around online shopping malls, and as the scale of Tesla imports continues to grow day by day, driver interest is also on the rise.

[Boo Seung-chan / Member, National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee (Democratic Party of Korea): The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport must step up to sort out this issue, and it is truly important to address institutional loopholes.]

Critics point out that despite clear illegal activities directly tied to traffic safety, both the competent ministry—the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport—and the police, the enforcement agency, are merely shouting sales bans while sitting idly by.

(Video reporting: Yang Ji-hoon, Kang Si-woo | Video editing: Lee Hong-myung | Footage courtesy of Tesla | Data courtesy of the office of Representative Boo Seung-chan of the Democratic Party of Korea)

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