Driving in Korea

Bobby put me on to this little gem of Korean driving from earlier in the week, in which a truck river rammed in to the back of a van working with a Korean Women's Cycling team, forcing the van in to the cyclists, killing three of them (the oldest was 25). His excuse, he was watching a DMB, or TV that is mounted on a dashboard of a car designed to be put in the back for kids, but all too often mounted on dashboards and used by drivers here in Korea.

Where to begin. First off, it is illegal to operate one while driving, but there is no penalty for doing it (how can that even happen? How can you have a law with no consequences for breaking it? I believe that is called a suggestion) and apparently it's hard to enforce anyway because people turn them off when they are pulled over by the police (to avoid the non-existent punishment no doubt). The stats are shocking though my favourite line is this one describing why a tougher ban was not put in place when "the National Assembly scrapped the plan citing public sentiment because watching DMB behind the wheel is so widespread" Ah okay, that makes sense, I mean we have these stats:


"According to the General Insurance Association of Korea, a driver watching DMB has only about 50 percent of the ability to observe what’s in front compared to a driver not watching it. This is less than about 72 percent of the ability of a drunken driver whose blood-alcohol concentration is 0.1 percent, the amount subject to license cancellation. It takes six seconds on average for a driver to operate DMB devices or a navigation system behind the wheel. This is the equivalent of driving a car for 118 meters without looking at the road at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour."


But hey, people like it, people do it a lot, so why legislate against it? ...... and I thought western politicians were wet noodles. 




But it's not surprising in many ways, Korean road laws are often non-existant and not enforced even when they do exist to the point where other Asian nations complain about crazy Korean drivers. That's right, drivers in Bangkok think Daegu drivers are reckless. 


There are many other examples: Using a cellphone while driving is illegal, and carries a whopping 60000 won fine (about $55USD) or almost enough to get them to stop or invest in a hands free set (perfectly legal).


There are speed limits, with camera's that tag people and send tickets to the address registered with their license plate and insurance. These camera's are mounted and never move. So much so that car GPS systems here give a warning if you are approaching one and going to fast. It's amazing how people slow down at the same intersection every day. Often they will make an annoying beeping sound if you are speeding, but since the DMB and cellphones are always on no one notices.


Fines are marginal, at most 100,000 won (about $90USD), and in three years here I have never seen police officers pull people over for running red lights, turning right when pedestrians are crossing (with the right of way) or going 140kph in a school zone. 


Finally there is the driving culture here, where consideration for other people seems non-existent. A school bus is an inconvenience at best and at worst an obstacle. Pedestrians are things to swerve around and in between, not stop and wait for. Everyone is in such a hurry to be the first to the next red light that human lives and basic safety don't seem to enter people's minds. I know there are idiot drivers everywhere, but they are called out as such in other places. I drive my car through a bunch of pedestrians someone will hit my car with his umbrella so hard that it'll leave a dent. I've seen in in Vancouver and in Seattle but here people just seem to accept it. Driving with no consideration for others is a norm, and a dangerous one. Sure the driver in this story killed (read murdered) three young cyclists, but he watched long enough to see Mr. Kim married Miss Park and overcame the ill mannered Japanese salesmen so I guess everything is okay.


Korea does many things differently from the west. Some I like, some I don't. Rarely though would I say they do something wrong. However, when it comes to road etiquette Koreans should hang their heads in shame. Three young women are dead, I hope their deaths will serve to bring about real road rules and enforcement of those rules in months to come.