Lunar New Year holidays see most car accidents at 6 p.m. on eve

Traffic accidents during the Lunar New Year holidays occur most frequently around 6 p.m. on the Lunar New Year eve, an analysis has revealed.

An analysis provided by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority on Monday shows that traffic accidents during the Lunar New Year holidays from 2011 to 2013 occur most often at 639 cases on the Lunar New Year eve. It was followed by the next day after the Lunar New Year Day (533), the first day of the holiday (408), and the Lunar New Year Day (351).

The time span during which accidents occurred most frequently was around 6 p.m. on the Lunar New Year Day eve, when 50.7 accidents were reported. It was followed by the time spans of 7 p.m. (45.3), and 8 p.m. (35.7), and 9 p.m. (32.3), suggesting that accidents mostly occurred during evening hours. The number of accidents happened at around 6 p.m. was higher by more than 25 percent compared to the same time span on ordinary days (40.7 cases).

The region where traffic accidents occurred more during the Lunar New Year holidays than ordinary days was the Gwangju region (35 percent), followed by South Jeolla Province (34 percent), Gangwon Province (18 percent), and Seoul (11 percent).

“Accidents occurring in the evenings of the Lunar New Year holidays attribute to heavier traffic than ordinary days, drivers’ drowsiness and deteriorating concentration, which are caused by long-distance driving,” the Korea Transportation Safety Authority said. “Motorists are advised to refrain from dozing off at the wheel, driving under influence, and driving through emergency lanes, and all passengers as well as the driver should fasten seat belts.”