Undercover Patrol Car Chases Down Bus-Lane Violators to the End

An undercover patrol car disguised as an ordinary sedan began enforcement by following a minivan driving in the bus-only lane. The minivan's rear windows were heavily tinted so its interior was hard to see, but the patrol officer checked the number of occupants through the front windshield.

The officer judged from the front glass that no one was riding in the back, saying it appeared six people were not aboard, and said the car would be stopped right away to check directly. To use the bus-only lane, a minivan must carry six or more people.

Checking inside the vehicle, officers found only three people including the driver. The traffic officer explained the enforcement by saying a minivan carrying only three people including the driver violated the bus-only lane.

The driver asked to be given penalty points instead of the fine, but the request was refused. Saying the driver had to take responsibility, a 70,000 won fine and 30 penalty points were imposed.

Officers said they focus filming on vehicles that come racing from far back at high speed when enforcing speeding, and that they keep their guard up while on enforcement duty.

As rain began to fall, other cars slowed down, but one car instead pressed the accelerator. After zigzag driving and then a sudden stop, the officers, having finished collecting evidence, quickly stopped the car for safety.

The officers said they do not let an urgent enforcement stop run past three minutes because it is dangerous. The reckless driving of vehicles stood out even more on rainy days.

Officers chased a reckless-driving vehicle for 9 km. The violations caught were sudden braking, failing to keep a safe distance, and speeding.

The driver admitted fault, saying he had to hurry. But while the enforcement officer was explaining the violations, he suddenly lost his temper.

The driver raised his voice further, pointing to the penalty: 40 points would suspend his license, and could bring up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 5 million won.

A commercial minivan carrying only the driver was caught driving in the bus-only lane. The driver protested that enforcement was excessive, saying a warning would have been enough.

The enforcement officer said 10 penalty points and a 40,000 won fine would be imposed. The driver continued to complain, asking whether they had created a surveillance society in which people photograph from behind and report.

The traffic officer said the action was taken to prevent accidents and absorbed the protest. The driver ultimately said it was the same as making excuses to the public.

An officer entered the vehicle's plate number into the Polifone system to check the problem driver. Officer Yun Tae-gok, the team leader, explained that this process can also lead to arresting other wanted persons.

There was also the judgment that a vehicle that cannot be insured is actually more dangerous. When a problem driver was found, a joint-enforcement request was relayed to the nearest undercover patrol car, which came in on the Gyeongbu Line Daejeon-bound at the 2K and 3K marks from the 300K point.

The driver was a problem case, so the situation called for approaching with time rather than urgent enforcement. The officers guided the truck to a nearby rest area.

The driver said he was heading somewhere important and that the vehicle was his own. Asked about driving experience, he answered that he had driven about seven years ago.

Verification showed his license had already been revoked 15 years earlier for drunk driving. The traffic officer advised him to cooperate with the investigation and use a designated driver service.

Chungbuk's undercover patrol team said every judgment is made on the spot by the patrol officer who arrives, and since there are no separate work instructions, expertise and skilled technique are required to judge road conditions and traffic volume together. The initial judgment is made directly by the patrol officer arriving on scene.

With no separate work instruction, officers must judge road conditions and traffic volume comprehensively, which requires expertise and skill, the explanation continued.

According to the Chungbuk undercover patrol team, deaths in the first half of last year were 15, and this year they fell to 5, a reduction of 10. That is a drop of nearly 60 percent.

Traffic police said they enforce the bus-only lane by watching the rearview mirror. As congestion worsened, a red passenger car cut into the bus-only lane.

While guiding the violating vehicle safely onto the shoulder, the officers could not take their eyes off the cars ahead, behind, and to either side.

The driver made excuses, saying he had been going to swim, then went to Seoul for a broadcast and had to go again. According to the officers, the shoulder is a place for emergency vehicles, so ordinary cars must not drive there.

The driver countered that a sign said driving on the shoulder was allowed. The traffic officer replied that the section had already ended and that he should enter through the intersection.

The driver who was enforced said he came in right away because it was a safety zone. The patrol officer said it was a violation of how the shoulder may be used and advised him to drive only in the shoulder-travel zone.

The officer notified him that a 60,000 won fine and 30 penalty points would be imposed for the shoulder violation. The driver apologized.

A situation arose in which a vehicle violating a designated lane had to be steered onto the shoulder. To pull out a truck driving in the first lane, a method of guiding it onto the shoulder is used.

The patrol officer said that when congestion occurs, pulling vehicles onto the shoulder is unavoidable. The meaning was that other methods are hard to use when traffic is heavily congested.

Even when the officer stops a car and tells the driver to use only the travel zone, the car does not move if the driver does not understand what is meant. According to a patrol officer, no matter how much he gestured, some novice drivers and female drivers could not understand what he was saying.

A truck carrying steel plates that had been washed overturned in an accident. The officers said that when there are victims, rescuing the victims is the top priority.

When there are no victims, securing communication is the first priority, because communicating first can prevent follow-up accidents.

After the accident investigation is complete, traffic flow is quickly coordinated, but it is not easy for one officer to control fast-approaching vehicles. When they first arrived at the scene, the vehicles were speeding and it was dangerous, while once congestion sets in it becomes somewhat less dangerous.

Even when there is a seriously injured patient, there are cases where they cannot move quickly because of road conditions. They lamented that between the Seoul tollgate and the Singal junction, the variable lane had removed even the shoulder. They also said that even when a report comes in, they must stand by because traffic jams are severe.

A three-vehicle pile-up occurred in the first lane of the highway, requiring the crashed vehicles to be moved onto the shoulder. The officers urgently stopped vehicles racing toward them.

Some vehicles might not have seen the officers, so extra caution was needed. While one officer drove a crashed vehicle, another had to keep controlling traffic again.

Though it is a repeated task, for the officers it is a life-risking job, and the routine they have grown used to can become a new fear.

The report said a passenger inside a taxi had assaulted the driver and caused a disturbance, making it impossible for the driver to keep driving. On arrival, the taxi was stopped in the main lane in a section with many accidents.

The officers pulled the patrol car about 20 m back and placed it between the shoulder and the lane as a shield. Officer Hong Seong-do, who later died in the line of duty, handled the rear safety setup, while the officer speaking was heading forward to assess the situation ahead.

Then a large truck, its driver not watching the road ahead due to drowsy driving, rushed in and struck the patrol car. As a result, the vehicles ahead were also pushed aside.

It was said that more than 20 highway patrol officers are injured or killed on the highway every year on average.

The officer admitted he naturally wanted to be transferred elsewhere. Even so, he judged that if not him, then someone else, another police officer, would have to check it.

He decided he could not crouch down and avoid it, even though he had many years left in police service. He said he has continued working to this day with the resolve to keep doing his best until the end.

When morning dawned and rush hour arrived, traffic congestion became severe. One of the patrol's duties is to enforce illegal cut-ins.

It was pointed out that vehicles often cut in suddenly toward where the traffic is clearing, and the danger is considerable. Drivers often protested, asking how they could be busy enforcing this, and why start with them instead of someone else.

The highway is a convenient road, but it is also a dangerous place where you can lose your life if you use it carelessly. So the patrol, which values even one person's safety, cannot let its guard down for a moment.

The officer said the reward is in passing on what he knows to people who don't know it, and making the risks citizens feel even a little smaller and the roads safer.

The public hopes for a country where highway accidents, which are frequent, no longer include fatal or major crashes. They wished that highway patrol personnel get through safely and that only good things happen to them.