[News 7/Focus M] Is the subsidy for vehicle modification for the disabled only for workers?... “I’m scared of buying it because I don’t have insurance.”

【 Anchor Comment 】

In response to protests by disabled groups over subway delays, the Yoon Seok-yeol government created a special presidential committee in September last year to discuss mobility rights for the disabled.

Did you know that in surveys on transportation methods for people with disabilities, private cars account for the highest proportion at 30%?

However, even if people with disabilities try to modify their vehicles so that they can drive, only working disabled people receive subsidies and cannot even dream of car insurance.

Reporter Lee Hyuk-jun covered why this was happening.

This is Focus M.

【 reporter 】

Seo-yoon Hong, who is in the driver's seat, uses a lift to load the wheelchair into a storage box on top of the vehicle.

You are skilled at using hand controllers to operate the accelerator pedal, brakes, and turn signals with your hands.

Mr. Hong works out early in the morning at Hangang-ro 3-ga, Seoul, and then goes to work in Donggyo-dong, which takes an hour by subway and arrives in 20 minutes by car.

I had to pay 9 million won for a lift and 1 million won for a hand controller in a lump sum because I couldn't pay in installments, and since they are excluded from insurance, I'm always worried that an accident will happen.

▶ Interview: Hong Seo-yoon / Physically disabled person

• “That part was excluded because it was an illegal modification and it was not covered by insurance because it was not a car.”

The hand controller, which is essential for disabled people to drive, is worked on by removing all the wiring from the driver's seat of a new car.

This is because it was made without considering the installation of a hand controller in the first place.

The same applies to vehicles at the driver's license test center.

▶ Interview: Park Hyeong-seok / CEO of a driving assistance device company for the disabled

• “Nowadays, as there is a lot of electronic equipment, connecting wires has become very difficult. It usually takes from 3 hours to a day or two per car.”

  
  

▶ Standing: Hyukjun Lee / Reporter

• “Let’s watch a video. Overseas, it has been a long time since we developed and commercialized a vehicle for the disabled that allows the disabled person to enter the car in a wheelchair and uses the wheelchair as the driver’s seat.”

Overseas, even automobile manufacturers are jumping in to make it possible for people with disabilities to ride and drive comfortably, but the biggest difference with Korea is the government's non-discriminatory financial support.

In Korea, only 1.2 billion won was spent last year, as the Employment Agency for the Disabled only supports the installation of driving assistance devices for working disabled people.

In a 2020 survey, one in three disabled people answered that they most often use their own car when going out.

It would have been expected that support measures would have been prepared, but as a result of our coverage, the government has turned a blind eye to them.

▶ Interview (☎): Ministry of Health and Welfare official

• “The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is in charge of mobility rights for the disabled and is taking various measures.”

  
  

▶ Interview: Choi Bo-yoon / Lawyer (Daeryun Law Firm)

• “In reality, the plan to improve transportation convenience for the transportation vulnerable does not include private vehicles. I think it should be specified to include vehicles for the disabled according to the definition of special transportation in the Transportation Disadvantaged Act.”

There is no subsidy for vehicles driven by a disabled person, as well as vehicles driven by a family member for the disabled person.

The additional cost of modifying an electric wheelchair so that it can be used directly is 15 million won, which is also difficult for individuals to purchase.

▶ Interview: Kim Ik-hoon / CEO of a vehicle modification company for the disabled

• “The price burden is very high because the cost of structural changes must be added to the price of the vehicle.”

Call taxis for disabled people who do not have their own vehicles cannot leave the boundaries of local governments, making it almost impossible for disabled people without their own vehicles to travel long distances freely.

▶ Standing: Hyukjun Lee / Reporter

• “In parking lots full of cars, the parking spaces reserved for the disabled are often empty. This is the result of our society’s indifference to cars for the disabled. This is Lee Hyuk-jun from MBN News.”

  
  

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