Habitual drunk drivers to be barred from being mass transit drivers

SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- Those caught drunk driving three or more times will be banned from being mass transit drivers, the government said Wednesday, a move aimed to curb traffic accidents.
The government has been working on a five-year plan to halve deaths caused by traffic accidents to 3,000 in 2012. The number of deaths steadily decreased to 5,505 last year as a result of the campaign but is far beyond the goal with only one year left before the completion of the campaign, according to the Prime Minister's Office.
Drunk driving accounted for 14.2 percent of the causes of the deaths in 2010, it said.
Also as part of the measures to accelerate the campaign, the government will introduce a system for measuring traffic safety of all cities and provinces across the country.
Under the system aimed to increase responsibility and the role of local administrations in ensuring traffic safety, administrations will receive incentives or penalties from the central government depending on the results of the survey, the office said.
The government will also expand 30 kilometers per hour speed zones to include smaller roads in residential areas, it said.
The authority is also considering placing police officers inside school zones so they can help elementary students safely cross roads, it added.
sshim@yna.co.kr