Bicycle accidents decline, but deaths rise 13%... 'Failure to follow safe-driving rules' in two out of three cases

[Financial News]  The number of bicycle traffic accidents has declined, but the number of deaths has increased. According to nationally approved statistics on bicycle use in 2025 released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) on the 29th, there were 5,235 bicycle traffic accidents last year, down 6.0% from 5,571 the previous year. In contrast, the number of deaths rose 13%, from 75 to 85. Approximately 66% of all accidents, or 3,458 cases, resulted from failure to comply with safe-driving obligations.
MOIS released 23 statistics across four categories: bicycle-use facilities, policies to promote bicycle use, bicycle traffic accidents, and national cross-country bicycle routes.
By accident type, bicycle-at-fault accidents involving vehicles fell 8.4%, from 3,638 in 2024 to 3,331 last year. By contrast, bicycle-at-fault accidents involving people increased 0.5%, from 1,677 to 1,685. By age group, accidents involving people aged 20 or younger rose 2.4%, from 1,620 to 1,659, while accidents involving riders aged 61 or older fell 8.0%, from 1,804 to 1,659.
The bicycle-use infrastructure expanded. The total length of bicycle paths reached 28,453 km, an increase of 699 km, or 2.5%, from 27,754 km the previous year. Compared with 25,249 km in 2021, the total has grown 12.7%. Shared bicycle-and-pedestrian paths accounted for 21,033 km, or 74.0% of all bicycle paths, while dedicated bicycle paths measured 3,875 km.
The number of public bicycles also increased. There were 71,938 public bicycles last year, up 3.4% from the previous year. However, rental transactions totaled approximately 52 million, down 10.3% from approximately 58 million the previous year. By region, Seoul accounted for approximately 37 million transactions, or 71% of the total, followed by Daejeon with 5.97 million, South Gyeongsang Province with 5.02 million, and Sejong City with 2.62 million.
The number of local governments enrolled in group bicycle insurance rose from 168 in 2023 to 171 in 2024 and 191 last year. Approximately 47 million people are covered by the insurance, representing more than 90% of the entire population. The annual number of people completing training at the 80 bicycle safety education facilities operated by local governments also surpassed 200,000.
The national cross-country bicycle routes comprise 12 routes with a total length of 1,857 km. Approximately 53,000 people used them last year, bringing the cumulative number of users since 2012 to more than 1.08 million. 


[email protected] Lee Bo-mi Reporter