NHRCK decides that “A” District’s improper management of streets for pedestrian which impedes the movement of persons with disability constitutes discrimination against persons with disability and thus recommended “A” District of Seoul City, which is in charge of the management of the road, to come up with measures to provide persons with disability with safe streets in accordance laws.
The petitioner Ms. Kim (31) is a wheelchair user who has disability. She claimed that “When visiting a Rehabilitation Welfare Center for Persons with Disability in the “A” District, I use the same street with cars only because the pedestrian path is too narrow to pass with a wheelchair.”
With regards to this claim, the “A” District acknowledged that the pedestrian path is too narrow even for people who do not use a wheelchair. However, even though the authority tried to widen the path and subsequently make the alongside driveway one-way road, the majority of residents oppose to turning the street to a one-way road. In this regard, it is difficult to expand the pedestrian way. According to the Road Traffic Act, a pedestrian always should walk on the pedestrian path when there are both a driveway and a pedestrian way. A pedestrian path is defined as a part of road where a pedestrian (including a baby carriage and wheelchair) could come and go. Taking it into consideration, a pedestrian path should be installed in a safe and convenient manner so that anybody can use it without any problem.
On NHRCK’s investigation, the pedestrian path was not constructed in accordance with the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities in 1997 when the construction was approved. Some part of the path was actually impossible to pass through for a wheelchair user.
NHRCK notes that a pedestrian path is common good that everybody shares and thus anybody has the right to use it without any discrimination. In this regard, it is required to guarantee higher accessibility and the right to use for anybody who passes the road. In addition, switching the driveway next to the pedestrian path to one-way road may cause inconvenience among residents. However, this inconvenience should not come before the risk of wheelchair user’s potential car accident. Moreover, it is not acceptable to secure the convenience while the right to move of the wheelchair user is greatly violated. Taking all the reasons mentioned above into consideration, NHRCK acknowledges that the improper management of the path in light of the current regulations constitutes discrimination against persons with disability and thus recommended to the relevant authorities.
