'Can my son drive my car home for Chuseok?' — check your auto insurance before you hit the road

If a spouse or child takes the wheel on the way home for Chuseok and causes an accident, will the insurance cover it? Not if the policy is set to "sole driver only." Families planning to share driving duties on long-distance holiday trips should expand their driver coverage before they leave.

Data show that on Chuseok day itself, vehicles enrolled under sole-driver-only policies — where no one else can legally take over — account for a disproportionately high share of accidents. Because families travel together, the number of victims per accident runs more than 60 percent above normal.

According to an analysis of auto insurance personal-injury accidents during the Chuseok holiday period over the past five years (2021–2025), released by the Insurance Development Institute and the General Insurance Association of Korea, sole-driver-only vehicles accounted for 34.8 percent of accidents on Chuseok day, up 3.1 percentage points from the normal-day figure of 31.7 percent.

By contrast, the accident share for vehicles with spousal-driver coverage fell from 35.8 percent on normal days to 34.9 percent on Chuseok day, while the share for family-driver coverage dropped from 16.2 percent to 14.3 percent. Among all driver-restriction categories, only the sole-driver share rose.

The insurance industry is urging drivers to check their policy's driver-coverage scope before departing, so that a family member can legally share the wheel on long-distance trips.

Several products are available for this purpose. A short-term driver-expansion rider covers accidents caused by another person driving the policyholder's car, providing the same protection as the base policy. A "driving another person's car" rider covers accidents the policyholder causes while driving someone else's vehicle. A rental-car damage rider covers accidents in rental vehicles. Drivers can also purchase one-day auto insurance on a daily basis. Coverage scope and effective times vary by product, so policyholders should confirm the details with their insurer before setting out.

The busiest accident day during the holiday period is not Chuseok day itself but the day before the holiday begins. As commuter traffic and homebound holiday traffic converge, accident counts on that day reached 4,842 — 45.3 percent above the normal-day figure of 3,332. By time of day, the 4–6 p.m. window recorded the highest share of victims at 20.2 percent. This year, that translates to the evening commute on Sept. 23.

Once the holiday itself begins, the total number of accidents falls — but each crash tends to injure more people. On Chuseok day, the daily average of 2,733 accidents was 18.0 percent below normal, yet the 6,197 victims represented a 28.5 percent increase.

Victims per accident averaged 2.3, compared with 1.4 on normal days — a 64.3 percent difference that reflects the holiday custom of entire families traveling in a single vehicle. The peak window on Chuseok day was noon to 2 p.m., which accounted for 22.7 percent of all victims. Children are especially at risk: victims under 18 made up 14.2 percent of the Chuseok-day total, 2.2 times the normal-day rate.

Rear-end collisions were the dominant accident type. They accounted for 49.1 percent of Chuseok-day crashes, up 10.4 percentage points from the normal-day rate of 38.7 percent. Drowsy driving and insufficient following distance during prolonged traffic jams are cited as the main causes.

Centerline-crossing accidents on Chuseok day ran at 1.5 times the normal rate. The day after Chuseok, drunk-driving accidents reached 1.6 times the normal level.

Drivers who cause an accident while drunk face a mandatory out-of-pocket liability — even with insurance — of up to 250 million won ($181,000) for personal injury and up to 70 million won for property damage. When both types of damage occur, the total personal liability can reach as much as 320 million won.

Drivers preparing for long trips should also check when their roadside-assistance coverage takes effect. The service is available only to policyholders who have added the relevant rider, and coverage begins at midnight on the day of enrollment — meaning drivers must sign up by Friday to be covered for that day's departure. The same applies to electric-vehicle-specific roadside-assistance riders. Because highway charging stations are expected to be congested during the holiday, EV drivers are advised to check the locations and congestion levels of charging stations along their route in advance.

Free pre-trip vehicle inspections are also worth taking advantage of. Heungkuk Fire & Marine Insurance is offering checks on 22 major components at Speedmate locations nationwide through Sept. 30, and AXA Non-Life Insurance through Oct. 31. KB Insurance will inspect 14 items at Magic Car service centers from Monday through Wednesday. Policyholders should contact their insurer for details.

If a vehicle breaks down or is involved in an accident, preventing a secondary collision is the first priority. Drivers should turn on hazard lights, move to the shoulder, set up a warning triangle, and evacuate all occupants to a safe location beyond the guardrail — not inside or beside the vehicle — before calling for roadside assistance. In congested holiday traffic, multi-vehicle pile-ups frequently lead to disputes over fault ratios, so saving dashcam footage immediately after an accident will make the claims process considerably smoother.

Yu Jae-hun, president of the Insurance Development Institute, said that during the Chuseok holiday, traffic surges and families travel together, meaning even a small lapse in attention can injure multiple people, and urged drivers to exercise extra caution.

Lee Byung-rae, chairman of the General Insurance Association of Korea, said he hoped drivers would check their auto insurance coverage before departing and make use of driver-expansion riders and other options as needed to have a safe holiday.