Rep. Jang Jong-tae: 19% exceed 7-year threshold

Next year's demand tops 130 vehicles, requiring budget allocation

A Korea Expressway Corporation safety patrol officer inspects a vehicle pulled over on the shoulder. [Korea Expressway Corporation]
A Korea Expressway Corporation safety patrol officer inspects a vehicle pulled over on the shoulder. [Korea Expressway Corporation]

Concerns have been raised about the deteriorating condition of safety patrol vehicles operated by the Korea Expressway Corporation, with nearly one in five found to be running past the agency's own replacement threshold.

Data submitted to Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jang Jong-tae of the National Assembly's Land and Transportation Committee show that 95 of the corporation's 483 safety patrol vehicles nationwide — 19.7 percent — have exceeded the seven-year service limit that triggers replacement.

Of those, 42 were introduced in 2017 and have been in service for eight years and eight months, while the remaining 53 were brought in early 2019.

More than half of the corporation's 59 regional offices — 43, or 72.9 percent — operate at least one overaged vehicle. The Daejeon, Jecheon, Buyeo, Namwon and Changnyeong offices each have four overaged vehicles out of eight, putting their excess rate at 50 percent.

The corporation said it plans to replace all 95 overaged vehicles by Wednesday.

Even so, the problem is expected to recur. Forty vehicles introduced between November and December 2019 have been in service for six years and eight months and will cross the seven-year mark by year's end, while 54 vehicles brought in during 2020 will reach the threshold by the end of next year. That means 40 more vehicles will become overaged within three months of completing this month's replacements, with the total climbing to 94 by next year.

No vehicle has yet exceeded the 750,000-kilometer mileage limit, but two vehicles at the Boseong office have logged 706,667 kilometers and 694,634 kilometers respectively, followed by one at the Gongju office at 688,011 kilometers and one at the Buan office at 686,962 kilometers. A total of 106 vehicles have surpassed 500,000 kilometers, and the 95 overaged vehicles average 563,645 kilometers.

From 2020 through this year — a seven-year span — the corporation replaced 416 safety patrol vehicles at a total cost of 29.43 billion won ($21.6 million), averaging about 59 vehicles a year. This year's replacement of 95 vehicles, costing 6.59 billion won, is the largest single-year total, but concentrated procurement of 93 and 54 vehicles in 2019 and 2020 respectively has created a cycle in which replacements pile up in specific years.

"Safety patrol vehicles are the first to respond when an accident occurs, preventing secondary collisions — operating aging vehicles puts both patrol staff and drivers at risk," Jang said. "The corporation should calculate upcoming replacement volumes year by year, budget accordingly, and spread out replacement schedules so they do not all fall in the same year."


igiza77@heraldcorp.com