Image capture of a video by Dynamic Busan via Youtube - Pregnant women in Korea get priority seats with the help of ‘pink light’
- Expectant mothers registered are given a sensor that will light up a button in a train in Busan once they ride
- This will alert other passengers that a pregnant woman is on board and needs a seat
How many awkward moments have you had when you want to offer a seat to a seemingly pregnant woman while riding a train but you are afraid to offend her and ask if she’s indeed pregnant?
Well, that trying moment is not a trouble in a South Korean city as the local government rolls out a wireless technology that helps riders point who are the expectant mothers.
Telegraph featured in a story Busan’s “Pink Light Campaign” where pregnant women were issued a sensor that will activate and light up a button attached in the priority seating of the train. This will alert fellow passengers that they need to be offered a seat.
The service is available in the Busan-Gimhae Light Rail service. The sensors have a battery life of up to six months. It has to be attached to a bag or a clothing so that it can be detected by the button in the train.
Pregnant women may apply online and pick up their badges once their maternity is confirmed.
The city government tested the campaign last month by giving out the sensors to 500 women initially.
“Consideration for pregnant women should prevail and they should be able to use public transportation more easily and conveniently with this policy,” Telegraph quoted Busan City Mayor Suh Byung-soo
“Women should be able to use city facilities easily even when they are expecting,” he added.
Other countries like the United Kingdom also have their own mechanism to help pregnant women to get priority seats.
“In the UK, Transport for London offers a free pin badge to pregnant travellers, which reads Baby on board’,” BBC said in a story published earlier.
Complaints rise among expectant mothers that they are not offered seats mostly because passengers are having a hard time trying to ask if a woman is pregnant or not.
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