Police to give incentives to good drivers

Good drivers who do not violate traffic rules or cause car accidents will see their penalty points reduced.

The National Police Agency said Friday that it will adopt a “good driving mileage system” on August 1, which gives 10 points a year to drivers who pledges to abide by traffic regulations and do not violate regulations or cause an accident.

The Dong-A Ilbo and the National Policy Agency held a ceremony Friday to sign a memorandum of understanding for a joint safe driving campaign. The two organizations have also launched a joint campaign against driving violations.

According to the police, the special points will be given to safe drivers in the form of a frequent flyer mileage system regardless of the period. If a participating driver receives penalty points for a traffic violation, he or she could offset them with their good-driving mileages. For instance, after a driver got 15 penalty points for a traffic signal violation, the points can be reduced by 10 points when he or she does not violate any traffic regulation for one year. The 10-point good-driving mileages will be accumulated each year.

Those who wish to participate in the campaign can make an application at police stations or substations by showing their driver’s licenses. One who applies on August 1 and remains accident and violation-free for the following one year will get 10 points from August 2014 for each year of safe driving.

The police have introduced the good-driving points to give incentives to those who practice safe driving, while cracking down on driving violations. The police expect that once implemented, the system will encourage drivers to better abide by traffic laws and regulations.

Lee Sung-han, the commissioner of the National Police Agency, said that crackdowns are not enough to maintain traffic order, emphasizing that the joint campaign with the Dong-A Ilbo will help promote traffic safety awareness.