[Anchor]

Yesterday (October 15), an elementary school student was struck and killed by a turning SUV while crossing a pedestrian crosswalk in a school zone in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province. At the time of the accident, the intersection was operating with flashing yellow traffic lights.

Reporter Choi Hyuk-gyu from KNN.

[Reporter]

Children place flowers in front of the crosswalk.

Overcome with the grief of losing a friend, they find it difficult to turn away.

At around 4:00 PM yesterday, a second-grade elementary school boy was struck and killed here by an SUV driven by a driver in their 70s.

The victim was hit by the SUV as it made a right turn at a three-way intersection while attempting to cross the crosswalk.

At the scene, pedestrian traffic lights were not operational, and only flashing yellow traffic lights for vehicles were in operation.

[Witness: The speed limit here is 30 kilometers per hour, so vehicles do not speed excessively. Having run a business here for over a decade, this is the first time I have ever seen such an accident happen.]

While flashing yellow signals normally allow drivers to proceed with caution while looking around, they must come to a complete stop if there are pedestrians crossing or attempting to cross the crosswalk.

However, most drivers are unaware of these regulations.

[Kim Jung-rim / Professor, Road Traffic Authority: When a flashing yellow signal is lit, the obligation to make a complete stop when turning right remains exactly the same. However, drivers often do not know about this requirement.]

Due to these risks, the Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to convert all pedestrian crosswalk signals in school zones to red, which mandates a complete stop, within this year.

With approximately 2,800 locations still operating under flashing signals in Busan and South Gyeongsang Province, critics point out that signal operations must be improved starting with school zones.

(Video by: Park Young-jun / KNN)

Choi Hyuk-gyu, KNN