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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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 Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:02 pm Post subject: DON'T TAILGATE, YOU MORON! |
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And if you do tailgate, don't try to commit murder when your intended victim doesn't succumb to your aggression!
Seriously, the drive up to Seoul from Busan on Friday morning was great. There was only one small traffic jam, about 20 minutes to get through it. The trip back to Busan Sunday morning was also great, except for the idiot in the SUV who decided that immediately after the highway narrowed down, it'd be a grand idea to follow me literally less than six inches behind. Yes, I'm sure of the distance--it looked exactly like he was parked behind me.
I decided that I really didn't want to have a collision at 100 kph so I slowed down. Evidently, the tailgater of the year was unhappy with that. Oh, before I forget to mention it, don't bother asking me why I didn't simply pull into the far right lane. That's the lane I was in! Anyway, TGOY whipped his SUV into the the shoulder lane, sped up until he was just in front of me, and then cut across me to get into the lane to my left.
When I saw him whip into the shoulder lane, I warned my passenger to hold on. There was no need to tell her to buckle her seatbelt since I never move the car unless everyone in it is buckled up. I also slowed down more. Luckily, the person behind TGOY, hereafter referred to as homicidal maniac, also noticed homicidal maniac and gave me plenty of room to avoid a major collision. The individual to my left also planned ahead and slowed down enough to give homicidal maniac room to drive like a fool.
The second I saw homicidal maniac whip into the shoulder lane, I warned my passenger to hang on as we would most likely be struck on her side of the car. She was stunned that anyone would even contemplate driving the way homicidal maniac did.
Look, I've seen a few posts recently here about people justifying their tailgating. It's not acceptable. It's never acceptable. It's illegal for a reason. It's dangerous. You want to know what else is illegal? Both murder and attempted murder, not to mention assault with a deadly weapon (aka automobile). Exercise some patience when you drive and you won't be out killing others. You'll also not meet a police officer who's quite happy to discuss your lack of driving skills. We saw a few people get pulled over for tailgating, reckless lane changes, and speeding.
Oh, just a note of humor on the whole issue, if you will. At a rest stop, we checked the news on our DMB. One of the stations was doing their traffic report and they showed the feed from the police traffic cameras on the highway. The announcer circled the car doing something similar as homicidal maniac (the one on the camera drove onto the shoulder, passed about six cars and then cut back into traffic barely missing the other cars), and then zoomed in on the license plate of the offender. I sure hope TGOY and the rest of the tailgaters have a wonderful time reading their mail!
Quit tailgating! |
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Savant
Joined: 25 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:14 pm Post subject: |
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Kudos for the Korean police doing their jobs and pulling over dangerous drivers.
I never want to drive in Korea for the simple fact that I don't trust Korean road users.
I drove a car when I went to Jeju and that was damn scary. Never have I seen so much bad driving from Koreans in 3 days than I have in as many years driving in the UK.
Is there a Korean Highway Code or basic driving guide? |
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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:16 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, I get really sick of those idjuts and have had a few do it to me, too.
I think my all-time "favorite" was years ago when I saw a bus whose driver didn't want to wait for holiday traffic, so he took his bus and passengers through rice fields running parallel to the highway  |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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| Savant wrote: |
| Kudos for the Korean police doing their jobs and pulling over dangerous drivers. |
My friend thought it was hilarious when I mentioned to her after it was over, "My best guess is he's going to meet a police officer today who's not happy at having to work on the holiday weekend.
I also noticed the highway patrol coppers doing more than their job. One we passed as he was changing someone's tire.
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| I never want to drive in Korea for the simple fact that I don't trust Korean road users. |
Here's an experiment you can try. I've done it and was a bit surprised by the results. Go find yourself a nice intersection in a major city. Watch the traffic go by for about 30 minutes. The majority of the people I saw were driving rather well. The bad drivers, though, were a higher percentage than what I'm used to back in California.
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| I drove a car when I went to Jeju and that was damn scary. Never have I seen so much bad driving from Koreans in 3 days than I have in as many years driving in the UK. |
The two weeks I spent driving in the UK and in Ireland pleasently surprised me. I saw nobody driving like a loon.
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| Is there a Korean Highway Code or basic driving guide? |
Yes to both conditions. The highway code is The Road Traffic Law and the Driver's License Bureau issues driver's manuals in a number of languages including English. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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| bluelake wrote: |
| Yeah, I get really sick of those idjuts and have had a few do it to me, too. |
Have you had one of them come up behind you and start flashing his lights at you? I'm considering getting a bumper sticker, written in Korean of course, to put on my trunk: "Yes, your headlights work. Let me know how my brake lights are working...NOW!"
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| I think my all-time "favorite" was years ago when I saw a bus whose driver didn't want to wait for holiday traffic, so he took his bus and passengers through rice fields running parallel to the highway |
It'd be grand if you got video and posted it! |
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byrddogs
Joined: 19 Jun 2009
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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| thanks for reminding me why i sold my car; i miss the convenience. i don't miss that crap, however. |
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bluelake
Joined: 01 Dec 2005
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
Have you had one of them come up behind you and start flashing his lights at you? I'm considering getting a bumper sticker, written in Korean of course, to put on my trunk: "Yes, your headlights work. Let me know how my brake lights are working...NOW!"
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Yup. They often do it when you are trying to pass an 18-wheeler--what do they expect me to do, go under the truck? When that happens, I usually tap on my brakes and all but complete idjuts back off.
| bluelake wrote: |
| I think my all-time "favorite" was years ago when I saw a bus whose driver didn't want to wait for holiday traffic, so he took his bus and passengers through rice fields running parallel to the highway |
| CentralCali wrote: |
| It'd be grand if you got video and posted it! |
Yeah, I wish I had video of that and one other bus incident: On a rainy day, while coming up to the Seoul toll gate, a bus slammed on his brakes and started doing 360s; miraculously, he missed all other cars and, when he was done spinning, the bus was exactly where it was supposed to be in line. Horns were honking and lights flashing off and on all around. |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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| bluelake wrote: |
| CentralCali wrote: |
Have you had one of them come up behind you and start flashing his lights at you? I'm considering getting a bumper sticker, written in Korean of course, to put on my trunk: "Yes, your headlights work. Let me know how my brake lights are working...NOW!"
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Yup. They often do it when you are trying to pass an 18-wheeler--what do they expect me to do, go under the truck? When that happens, I usually tap on my brakes and all but complete idjuts back off.
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That's when you give 'em a Mexican roadblock! Stay next to the 18 wheeler and stop looking in the rearview for awhile.
It's a risky tendency of mine, but anyone who drives like a homicidal maniac deserves to have their blood pressure spike for awhile. That way we can have assurance they won't be on the road for a long time. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:04 pm Post subject: |
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| djsmnc wrote: |
| It's a risky tendency of mine, but anyone who drives like a homicidal maniac deserves to have their blood pressure spike for awhile. That way we can have assurance they won't be on the road for a long time. |
I don't care if those morons want to kill themselves. The problem is they constantly involve others in their suicide by traffic. |
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halfmanhalfbiscuit
Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Savant wrote: |
Kudos for the Korean police doing their jobs and pulling over dangerous drivers.
I never want to drive in Korea for the simple fact that I don't trust Korean road users.
I drove a car when I went to Jeju and that was damn scary. Never have I seen so much bad driving from Koreans in 3 days than I have in as many years driving in the UK.
Is there a Korean Highway Code or basic driving guide? |
Drivers in Jeju are frightening. They think they're in Hawaii or something... |
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drydell
Joined: 01 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:39 am Post subject: |
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JeJu is like a relaxing tranquil aroma-drive next to Busan...
I've been in Delhi rickshaws and on Scooters in Athens but nothing is as scary as a Busan taxi/bus driver making time...
Also there is actually a road in Haeundae near the station where the centre lane of the road literally stops dead and becomes the centre lane for the opposite side of the road - abso-bloody-lutely madness.. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:42 am Post subject: |
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| bluelake wrote: |
| On a rainy day, while coming up to the Seoul toll gate, a bus slammed on his brakes and started doing 360s; miraculously, he missed all other cars and, when he was done spinning, the bus was exactly where it was supposed to be in line. Horns were honking and lights flashing off and on all around. |
I don't know if I should be scared or impressed.
That'd be a sight. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:43 am Post subject: |
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What? Tailgating is a time honored tradition. Get liquored up, spend three hours with the family in the car. Honk your horn and blast your music. Yell at passerbys and give the finger to the car with the out of province license plate and generally be obnoxious.
Oh wait, your talking about driving tailgating. Not pre-game tailgating. My bad. |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 5:49 am Post subject: |
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bluelake: I have a great photo of the aftermath of a "brilliant driver" speeding like a maniac out of the Gaya side (no jokes, that's actually the name of the district) of Sujeong Tunnel in Busan. He flipped his car into the tollbooth. You'd think something like that would've happened late on a night with torrential rain. Nope, around 8:00 a.m, clear, sunny day, no clouds at all.
Send me a PM with your e-mail address and I'll send the photo to you. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 6:24 am Post subject: Re: DON'T TAILGATE, YOU MORON! |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
I decided that I really didn't want to have a collision at 100 kph |
OP, I do sympathise with you as people driving like that is something I don't like either.
However, I also suggest you don't try much expressway driving in much of western Europe, particularly Germany, Italy or Spain, because expressway driving in Korea is a picnic in comparison. In Germany, people will tailgate you at more than twice that speed at the same ridiculously close distance behind you. Plenty of times, both as passenger and driver, I've been in a car there doing around 200km/h in the outside lane with someone in usually a BMW on our back bumper with their left indicator flashing, which means get the hell outta my way.
I once got a ride home from Munich to Augsburg from a German guy who drove at 240km/h for most of the way and regularly tailgated people until they moved. Bizarrely enough, our topic of conversation for the mercifully short journey home was bad drivers. This guy reckoned Germans were amongst the worst "because they get in your way all the time"   |
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