As Koreans are increasingly riding bicycles as a means of transportation both for health and environmental concerns, the number of traffic accidents involving bicycles is steadily growing.

According to data from the National Police Agency and the Road Traffic Safety Authority, traffic accidents in which a bicyclist appears to have been at fault reached 1,128 cases and claimed 65 lives. In 2005, the number of allegedly bicycle-caused traffic accidents stood at 929 with 45 fatalities. In 2004, 645 allegedly bicycle-caused accidents occurred, killing 40, the data showed.

Under Korea's Road Transportation Law, bicycles are categorized as a vehicle. So, if a bicycle hits a person or a car, the bicyclist's punishment under law would be commensurate to that of an automobile driver. In particular, if a bicycle driver causes an accident on a sidewalk, the driver could face as much as 20 million won (US$21,700) in fines or up to five years in prison.

On July 29, a 55-year-old bicyclist, identified as Park, hit a 67-year-old pedestrian, identified as Hong. The incident occurred on a sidewalk which allows pedestrians as well as bicycle riders. After being struck, Hong fell to the sidewalk and suffered a brain injury, which proved fatal after treatment at a hospital could not revive him.

Park was arrested for allegedly violating traffic laws.

"Still, most people ride their bicycles on the sidewalk because they don't regard a bicycle as a vehicle," said Song Sang-cheol, an investigator at Seoul's Yeongdeungpo district police station, which is handling the fatal incident.

However, those who ride bicycles as their means of commuting to work have asked the government to set up bicycle-only pathways across the country. Experts echo this sentiment, calling on the government to do more in terms of infrastructure for bicyclists.

Park Cheon-soo, a research fellow at the Samsung Traffic Safety Culture Research Institute, said, "Though it is idealistic for the Seoul city government to set up bicycle-only pathways, that is not feasible due to budget limitations. [Currently], with sidewalks partly allowed for bicycles, traffic accidents are allowed to commonly occur."

"The actual number of traffic accidents involving bicycles is higher than official statistics seem to show, as people don't tend to report them," Park said. "Safe bicycle riding should be a priority for riders, so we should think about insurance coverage for bicycle riders."

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]