Recently, a traffic accident that occurred near a crosswalk near Hongik University Station in Seoul sparked controversy online.

This was because a dashcam captured the exact moment a woman suddenly ran onto the crosswalk while the pedestrian light was red, colliding head-on with a vehicle.

In the dashcam footage, a bus was stopped at a station in the middle of the road, leading to speculation that the woman may have jaywalked to catch the bus.

Online, the accident sparked debate, with some pointing out the consequences of jaywalking while others questioned whether the driver should be held responsible even in such a situation.

While it is commonly believed that crossing anywhere other than a crosswalk constitutes jaywalking, there are cases under the Road Traffic Act where crossing without a crosswalk is permitted.

First, Article 10 (Crossing of Roads) of the Road Traffic Act stipulates, "Pedestrians shall cross at crosswalks, underground passages, pedestrian overpasses, or other road-crossing facilities where they are installed."

However, the law also includes a provision stating, "On roads where no crosswalk is installed, pedestrians shall cross by the shortest distance."

Depending on the road, crossing at a non-crosswalk location is legally permitted.

For example, if crosswalks are sparse on roads in rural or quiet areas, crossing the road is not considered jaywalking.

An official from the National Police Agency explained the specific criteria for "roads where no crosswalk is installed," saying, "If you look around and no crosswalk or overpass is in sight, crossing the road is not considered jaywalking."

Furthermore, individuals with physical disabilities who find it difficult to use road-crossing facilities such as crosswalks, underground passages, or overpasses are allowed to cross the road in a manner that does not obstruct traffic.

Even if one uses a crosswalk, failing to obey the signal constitutes jaywalking.

This is because Article 5 of the Road Traffic Act states, "Pedestrians walking on a road shall comply with signals or directions indicated by traffic safety facilities, and directions given by police officers, etc."

Under Article 157 of the Road Traffic Act, pedestrians who jaywalk on roads other than designated areas face a fine of up to 200,000 won, detention, or a minor fine.

Regarding dashcam videos of jaywalking accidents, including the one near Hongik University Station, many people react by saying, "How could anyone cross the road in that situation?"

However, statistics show that a significant number of citizens routinely jaywalk in their daily lives.

According to the results of the "2025 Traffic Culture Index Survey" released by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority in January this year, the compliance rate for the ban on jaywalking in the pedestrian behavior awareness survey was 73.4%.

The survey, which polled 24,273 people, asked, "In the past 30 days, have you crossed a road at a non-crosswalk location even though there was a crosswalk nearby?"

In this annual survey conducted by the authority, the compliance rate for the ban on jaywalking has remained in the 70% range for three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025.

In addition, a pedestrian behavior survey conducted by the authority in January 2021 targeting 37 areas with high pedestrian traffic accidents nationwide showed that 18.2% (2,801 people) out of 15,361 pedestrians crossed the road at non-crosswalk locations in those areas.

This means that nearly two out of ten pedestrians chose to jaywalk.

The main reasons given for jaywalking were "thinking they could easily make it across" or "thinking it would not be dangerous."

According to the "Pedestrian Crossing Safety and Right-of-Way Survey" published by the authority in 2019 based on a poll of 7,617 people, 32.3% of pedestrians said they had jaywalked within the past week at the time.

They cited the reasons for jaywalking as: ▲ the road was narrow enough to cross safely (38.6%), ▲ there was no crosswalk nearby (24.2%), ▲ they felt it would not be dangerous to jaywalk (19.8%), and ▲ they were in a hurry (14.6%).

Although people cross because they "think they can easily make it across," jaywalking leads to severe consequences when an accident occurs.

In fact, one out of ten traffic accident fatalities is caused by jaywalking.

According to the Traffic Accident Analysis System (TAAS) of the Korea Road Traffic Authority (KoROAD), 5,484 "pedestrian traffic accidents while crossing outside of crosswalks" occurred last year, leaving 234 people dead and 5,378 injured.

This accounts for 9.1% of all traffic accident fatalities (2,549 deaths) last year.

Previously, jaywalking accounted for 10.9% (337 deaths) of all traffic accident fatalities in 2020, 9.2% (271 deaths) in 2021, 9.6% (265 deaths) in 2022, 9.9% (254 deaths) in 2023, and 9.6% (244 deaths) in 2024.

Jaywalking also frequently occurs at crosswalks.

According to TAAS statistics on pedestrian casualties by accident status, there were 250 deaths and 11,322 injuries from accidents inside crosswalks last year.

Considering that the total number of deaths from accidents "while crossing" was 484, more than half lost their lives in accidents that occurred at crosswalks, similar to the controversial jaywalking video.

Experts pointed out that a significant portion of these crosswalk accidents occur when pedestrians violate pedestrian signals.

Kim Won-gi, an accident investigation researcher at KoROAD's Traffic Accident Comprehensive Analysis Center, said, "There are quite a few cases where people hastily cross when it is not a pedestrian signal."

While there are various causes for these crosswalk accidents, bus stops installed in median bus lanes are also suspected to have an impact.

According to a study titled "Analysis of Pedestrian Traffic Accident Factors Around Median Bus Lane Stops: Focusing on Seoul TAAS (2014–2016) Data" published in the 2018 journal "Journal of Korea Planning Association" by the Korea Planning Association, pedestrian traffic accident fatalities near median bus lane stops in Seoul from January 2014 to April 2017 accounted for 14% (98 deaths) of the total 685 pedestrian traffic accident deaths.

In particular, the number of traffic accidents that occurred at median bus lane stops was 5.4 times higher than those at curbside bus stops.

A 2014 study published in The Journal of The Korea Institute of Intelligent Transport Systems, titled "Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Jaywalking Prevention Facilities at Split Crosswalks in Median Bus Lanes," also pointed out that crosswalks in front of median bus lane stops prompt users to make risky crossings to catch buses entering the station.

The study also analyzed data collected from approximately 19,000 pedestrians at the crosswalk of the Sookmyung Women's University Station median bus stop in Seoul. It found that only 57.8% exhibited "normal" pedestrian behavior—entering and exiting within the crosswalk and completing the crossing during the green light.

Kim Won-gi, the researcher at KoROAD, also speculated that the creation of bus stops in the middle of roads has shortened the crossing distance compared to the past, which may have contributed to the increase in jaywalking.

Experts commonly agree that while pedestrians bear significant fault when a jaywalking accident occurs, drivers can also be held responsible.

This is because, under the Road Traffic Act, drivers have a duty to observe road conditions and keep their eyes on the road ahead.

Multiple police officials said, "Even if a pedestrian jaywalks, drivers have a duty to keep their eyes on the road under the Road Traffic Act, so they may face criminal liability."

The location of the accident also affects the determination of negligence.

A traffic official at the National Police Agency said, "If the accident occurred on a motor-vehicle-only road, the driver would likely not be held responsible, but on general roads, they are often held liable."

The driver's "foreseeability" and "avoidability" are also crucial criteria in determining negligence.

Yang Seon-soon, managing attorney at L-Mind Law Firm, said, "It is important to determine whether the driver committed one of the '12 gross negligences,' such as speeding by more than 20 km/h over the limit."

Attorney Yang added, "If the driver's actions do not fall under the 12 gross negligences, established judicial precedents dictate that the case is judged based on 'foreseeability' and 'avoidability'—namely, whether the driver could have anticipated the pedestrian's appearance at the time of the accident, and if so, whether they could have avoided the collision."

Some speculated that in the case of the accident near Hongik University Station, the driver's situation might be taken into consideration, as it was later revealed that the driver was rushing to a hospital emergency room due to post-surgery complications of their child who was battling cancer.

However, Attorney Yang said that such facts alone do not reduce the driver's negligence ratio.

Yang explained, "Because it is considered a personal circumstance, the presence or absence of negligence cannot be determined by it."

However, separate from criminal liability, there is a possibility that the pedestrian's liability could be deemed greater in civil matters.

Kim Won-gi, the researcher at KoROAD, said, "Because drivers have a duty to protect pedestrians, they may be held responsible from a criminal standpoint. However, since it is confirmed that the pedestrian crossed the street ignoring the pedestrian signal, civil courts may determine that the pedestrian bears greater liability."

Experts emphasize that raising pedestrian awareness is necessary to eradicate jaywalking.

Some also point out that older adults need to exercise more caution, given that they make up the overwhelming majority of jaywalking fatalities.

According to TAAS statistics from last year, 166 elderly pedestrians aged 65 or older died due to jaywalking, accounting for over 70% of the total 234 jaywalking deaths.

The number of injured elderly pedestrians was also 2,074.

According to the "2025 Traffic Culture Index Survey," the proportion of elderly individuals among those who did not obey crossing signals was recorded at 78.4% (based on observation).

Related organizations analyzed that elderly pedestrians, who walk or react slowly, often meet with accidents while jaywalking in an attempt to take the shortest route or move faster.

According to the results of an experiment analyzing pedestrian crossing characteristics by age group released by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority in 2020, those under the age of 60 gave up crossing when a vehicle approached within an average distance of 76.7 meters from the crosswalk, whereas those aged 60 or older gave up crossing only when the vehicle approached as close as 64.7 meters.

KoROAD emphasized through its official social media channels, "You must not jaywalk just because the distance is short," adding, "It is important to build the habit of using crosswalks and pedestrian paths, even if they are a bit further away."

(Photo: Yonhap News)