Korean Job Discussion Forums

pest2 · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Location: Vancouver, Canada

They never look before they step out into traffic... But if you hit them, the law still says it's your fault... Even when you are driving or riding your bike slowly, there is often not enough time to react.. what to do?

Paji eh Wong · Joined: 03 Jun 2003

bat sense.

soju pizza · Joined: 21 Feb 2007

I bought a great big fucking transport truck horn for my motorbike and I use it whenever it needs to be used.

Koreans have a word for that asinine habit of not looking twice before stepping into the street. Something akin to "no fear of death" (and not in a courageous way, rather, lower on the Darwinistic struggle for survival way).

King Baeksu · Joined: 22 Oct 2006

Bibbitybop · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Location: Seoul

Don't stop to check on the girl, or for anything else.

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

I believe you are overstating the case about what the law says. For an accident in Bucheon a couple of years ago, the driver was not considered to be at fault when two young girls ran into the street. I'm aware of the outcome of that case because I was a pedestrian on the sidewalk on the other side of the street when it happened and administered First Aid to the girl who was hit. Both the girl's mother and the driver of the car stayed in contact with me.

Not stopping to help is, of couse, an offense and to advise someone of that is, to say the least, unkind.

My Korea Driver License manual for foreigners is packed up now. I'll dig it out over the weekend and post what it says about pedestrians and leaving the scene of an accident.

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

Always expect them.

Col.Brandon · Joined: 09 Aug 2004 Location: Seoul

You really have to just assume that everyone around you is an idiot. Then drive accordingly. Caution is the name of the game here.

xtchr · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

It's not just girls who do it.
It's the entire population.

Bibbitybop · Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Location: Seoul

Benicio · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:16 pm Post subject:

Quote- "You really have to just assume that everyone around you is an idiot. Then drive accordingly. Caution is the name of the game here."

Exactly!!! You have to constantly be on the lookout for people and cars just jumping out in front of you without warning. That's the name of the game here- don't stop and look, just go.

Unless you are fully insured, you- the driver, will have to pay up to the injured, even though they caused the accident by being a wreckless idiot.

2 years ago, I had this sort of situation happen to me. I was on my scooter- not speeding- when this crazy ajumma just bolts out into the street and hits me. I didn't hit her. She hit me- ran right into the side of my scooter and fell over. I never saw it coming.
I was not insured- I know, that was not smart of me.
Anyway, she got checked out at the hospital and was alright. That night, after "consulting" with her idiot brother, she decided that she was severely injured and checked into a clinic the next day. She claimed to be in great pain and was unable to move her neck. She had the nerve to say this while she was completely turning her head sideways to get to her cellphone. She was looking for some real blood money because her brother told her that foreign teachers make 5 million Won per month. I have no idea where he got that. Maybe it's from those sensationalist news stories that tell people that we are making millions upon millions a month.
Anyway, the police investigating told me that, no matter what, they usually side with the pedestrian- even if they are the ones to blame. It's like the fighting thing- it doesn't matter who started it, the injured person wins. They told me that the fact that she was jaywalking helped me a bit, but I would still have to pay something. They said that if she had been on the crosswalk, which was 20 feet away, I would have been royally screwed!
In the end, I didn't give up. I fought the case for several months and it was very stressful. I ended up paying a 1 million Won fine for not being insured.
Now, I know:
-get insurance
-don't just give up when you are right
-think twice about stopping if this happens again. Some people are looking to take all your money when it was them who was to blame.[/quote]

The_Eyeball_Kid · Joined: 20 Jun 2007

Kimchi Cha Cha · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: was Suncheon, now Brisbane

I've always found the worst places for pedestrians not looking before they cross is inevitably university campuses ... go figure.

It's a nightmare driving through a uni campus while classes are in session with all the princesses and buttheads ambling across the roads as if they were goat tracks, and I only drive a scooter I can imagine how bad it must be if you drive a car . . .

ernie · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Location: asdfghjk

[quote="CentralCali"]My Korea Driver License manual for foreigners is packed up now. [/quote]

i didn't think there was such a thing! i've been asking about turning left on a green light (with no advanced arrow) for a year now with no clear consensus... watching other people drive here makes me even more confused... i've been told if there's a red sign, then you CAN turn left on a regular green light... so if there's no sign, i can't? i hate positive signs (like the "you can turn left here" in quebec) because if i don't see one, does that mean i can't do it? what if i'm in the middle of nowhere with no signs?

i also got some frightened gasps when i "took possession" of an intersection to turn left here... in canada, that's the thing to do! is that against the law here or just stupid because someone coming from your left will probably ignore their red light and plow you? help me out!