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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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 Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:28 am Post subject: The latest example of Korean "ingenuity" |
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Turning their car lights off at red lights. Why? I'm guessing to save .001 won of gas. Problem? Forgetting to turn back on their lights when the light turns green. I notice taxis doing it alot, but it seems to be catching on with the general public. I use to do a quick on/off of my lights to signal to the drivers, but they never catch on. Way to save a buck...
This, in addition to the wonderful Korean habit of standing on the road, instead of the curb/sidewalk, at intersections. Gotta save that .001 second of time it takes to take the first step off the curb. Wow, these people certainly are going places! |
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CA-NA-DA-ABC
Joined: 20 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:34 am Post subject: |
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the former is certainly stupid.
with respect to the latter, I'm guilty of doing it too sometimes. Korean sidewalks can be pretty crowded (scooters, smokers, and just sheer volume of people) and sometimes the asphalt is too uneven. |
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blaseblasphemener
Joined: 01 Jun 2006
Location: There's a voice, keeps on calling me, down the road, that's where I'll always be
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 7:42 am Post subject: |
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| CA-NA-DA-ABC wrote: |
the former is certainly stupid.
with respect to the latter, I'm guilty of doing it too sometimes. Korean sidewalks can be pretty crowded (scooters, smokers, and just sheer volume of people) and sometimes the asphalt is too uneven. |
Naw, I'm not talking about when it's packed, or on crap sidewalks. I'm talking about choosing to stand on the road just for the hell of it. It's usually teenagers, or ajummas. I always drive really close to them to give them a little shock, but being Koreans, they are always oblivious to the danger. |
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Temporary
Joined: 13 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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| the light thing pisses me off I was Hit by idiots twice when I was riding my motorcycle 1 cause they had lights off 2 they wreeked of SOJU. |
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michaelambling
Joined: 31 Dec 2008
Location: Paradise
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:22 pm Post subject: |
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| I'd like to know if driving scooters on the sidewalk is illegal or not. |
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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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| The turning lights off thing is nothing new; they did it when I first lived here in '84. Why? I really don't know and I got lots of different answers. However, remember that not many people drove back then; it was almost all taxis and rich peoples' chauffeurs. |
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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 3:59 pm Post subject: |
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| michaelambling wrote: |
| I'd like to know if driving scooters on the sidewalk is illegal or not. |
I think it, technically, is illegal, but it's another thing that's been done ever since I was first here in '84. |
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Jeff's Cigarettes
Joined: 27 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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| It's done as a curtsy for the car in front of you. I usually do it as I am running very high powered halogens in my truck. |
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Horangi Munshin
Joined: 06 Apr 2003
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 4:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Jeff's Cigarettes wrote: |
| It's done as a curtsy for the car in front of you. I usually do it as I am running very high powered halogens in my truck. |
That is what I've been told too. Probably linked to the rear-view mirrors the size of a small country in almost every car. Saves blinding the driver in front maybe. |
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KOREAN_MAN
Joined: 01 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know much about cars, but I don't think you're saving any amount of gas by using less electricity from your car's battery.
On a side note:
A lot of Koreans roll down the windows instead of turning the a/c on to save gas during summer. However, I've been told that air resistance increases significantly when the windows are rolled down it actually ends up using more gasoline than turning on the a/c. |
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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Jeff's Cigarettes wrote: |
| It's done as a curtsy for the car in front of you. I usually do it as I am running very high powered halogens in my truck. |
I prefer a bow rather than a curtsy 
Actually, that was the most common reason people gave me for doing so.
It used to be that people would flash their lights at you if you had your headlights on in the daytime. |
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diver
Joined: 16 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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If the people who built the cars could align the headlights properly, and the drivers knew how to use the night setting on their rear view mirrors, there wouldn't be any problems.
There is NO advantage to driving at night with your lights off. K-logic probably goes like this - "You can't hit something you can't see. If I turn my lights off, no one can see me. If they can't see me, they can't hit me. Therefore it is safer to drive at night with my lights off."
The reverse is true in the daytime. You can't hit something if you can't see it. So in the daytime, they drive with their eyes closed. |
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Straphanger
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Location: Chilgok, Korea
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| KOREAN_MAN wrote: |
| A lot of Koreans roll down the windows instead of turning the a/c on to save gas during summer. However, I've been told that air resistance increases significantly when the windows are rolled down it actually ends up using more gasoline than turning on the a/c. |
Windows down vs. air conditioning
"Urban puzzle": it is more efficient, on a hot day, to run with the A/C on and windows up than to run with windows down (b/c of increasing car's drag).
Computer-based mpg measurements: * 11.7/11.8 with A/C on and windows up * 11.7/11.8 with A/C off and windows up * 11.3 with A/C off and windows down
So, according to the computer, it's better to use A/C with windows up.
This was too quick and easy for TV, so they decided to stage a seven hour marathon, race-til-you're-empty duel, with Jamie driving an SUV with A/C on and Adam driving an SUV with windows down. Though, once the safety inspector intervened, it was no longer a seven-hour marathon, it was a bit slower (45mph instead of 55mph), and a lot shorter (only 5 gallons each).
Jamie's A/C car ran out of gas first -- Adam's windows down SUV ran for another 30 laps -- completely contradicting the computer mpg estimate. Computer estimate based on air flow into the engine, so it would appear that it is unable to properly model the difference between A/C and windows down.
Mythbusted |
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Xuanzang
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:33 pm Post subject: |
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| It doesnt help that they put in HIDs without levelling them properly. Sometimes it is better they turn em off than blinding you with watts of lights. |
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NoExplode
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Tue Feb 17, 2009 5:42 pm Post subject: |
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Strange, I ask the cab drivers why they do it, and I think out of about 5 I've asked, four said it saves the battery, one said "it makes the lights last longer," never got an answer about courtesy to others. If you think about it, it makes sense, when was the last time a Korean driver was concerned for others around them?
I think some posters assume Koreans do it for courtesy because that 's why they do it back home. But there aren't a lot of high-riding pick-ups that are taxis here. |
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