Traffic crashes occurring between midnight and 6 a.m. during the Chuseok holiday period have produced more than four deaths per 100 crashes, about four times the rate during the busy afternoon hours, data showed Monday.
A total of 11,510 traffic accidents occurred during the Chuseok holidays from 2021 to 2025, killing 181 people and injuring 18,903, according to Korea Road Traffic Authority data released by Rep. Hwang Hee of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
The period from midnight to 6 a.m. recorded the fewest accidents, with 1,125, or 9.8 percent of the total. Yet those crashes resulted in 50 deaths, equivalent to 4.4 deaths per 100 accidents — by far the highest rate of any time period.
By comparison, 4,607 accidents, or about 40 percent of the total, occurred between noon and 6 p.m., when traffic is generally heaviest. Those crashes caused 51 deaths, but the rate was much lower at 1.1 deaths per 100 accidents.
The period from 6 a.m. to noon recorded the second-highest rate, at 1.5 deaths per 100 accidents.
Hwang attributed the elevated overnight risk to factors such as drowsy driving and speeding.
“Administrative efforts alone have limits in reducing casualties,” he said. “Drivers must also take sufficient rest and drive cautiously.”
He called on authorities to encourage motorists to use highway rest areas and to display more roadside messages reminding them to rest and slow down.
An average of 6.05 million vehicles per day are expected to use South Korea’s expressways during this year’s Chuseok holiday from Thursday to Saturday, one of the country’s two biggest traditional holidays alongside Lunar New Year.
Traffic leaving Seoul is expected to peak Thursday morning, while expressways heading toward the capital are forecast to be most congested Friday afternoon.
The data also showed that accidents were most frequent on the first day of the Chuseok break in each of the five years surveyed. An average of 552 accidents occurred on the first day, compared with a daily average of 398 over the remainder of the holiday.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
