Gov't to require seat belt for all passengers from 2015

All passengers will be required to wear seat belts at all times starting in 2015, the government said Friday, as part of measures aimed at improving the country's road safety.

Currently, only drivers and front seat passengers are required to wear seat belts with back seat passengers only required to fasten safety belts when on expressways.

Starting from 2015, all passengers will be required to wear their seat belts on any type of road, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a press release.

"The government will seek to require mandatory use of seat belts while expanding the number of unmanned traffic enforcement cameras under a goal of cutting the number of traffic accident fatalities by 30 percent," it said.

Under the measures, reported at a policy coordination meeting, the government will also increase the number of what it has named "napping areas" along the country's major roads from the current 112 to 220 in 2017.

The government will also seek to require all new vehicles to be equipped with daylight running lamps and what is known as an e-call system, which automatically sends emergency calls to nearby fire stations or medical  nstitutes when the car is involved in an accident.

Such efforts are expected to help reduce the number of traffic accident fatalities from 2.34 per every 10,000 cars to 1.6 in 2017, the ministry said. (Yonhap News)