Journal of Korean Society of Transportation ISSN:1229-1366(Print) 2234-4217(Online) 대한교통학회지

As the use of personal mobility has been activated since the domestic launch of the shared transportation service in 2018, related civil complaints and accidents are increasing. Accordingly, the government strengthened the safety regulations of personal mobility through the revision of the Road Traffic Act, but this brought many restrictions in terms of smart mobility business and revitalizing the sharing economy. In other words, the result is that the lack of infrastructure facilities for the use of personal mobility, the traffic environment in Korea, and citizens’ awareness are not taken into account, but only reflect the social needs of laws and safety measures due to the expansion of related markets. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to present a balanced alternative between ‘Safety between user and pedestrian’ and ‘Shared-use Mobility activation’ through legal regulatory reviews currently applied to ‘personal mobility’ and comparison with other means of transportation such as bicycles. As a result, first, we propose a speed standard for personal mobility at a level lower than the design speed of Bicycle road by type, such as 25km/h or less on exclusive bicycle path, 10km/h or less on bicycle and pedestrian path, and 15km/h or less on exclusive bicycle lane. In addition, in consideration of the bicycle speed and braking distance in the Bicycle road, and the speed of the wheelchairs to aid walking that can pass on the sidewalk, it is necessary to allow personal mobility to pass the sidewalk through speed limit in the section where the Bicycle road is insufficient. Second, it is necessary to apply flexible regulations according to the characteristics of personal mobility that are included in bicycles, due to legal status, such as adjusting safety helmet as a recommendation, not as mandatory, and limiting them to driving age instead of driver’s license obligations.