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I cant believe how people drive here.
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are koreans the worst drivers in the world?
yes
38%
 38%  [ 24 ]
no
31%
 31%  [ 20 ]
its all relative
17%
 17%  [ 11 ]
banana
12%
 12%  [ 8 ]
Total Votes : 63

Author Message
Loudog



Joined: 22 Oct 2009
Location: Shiheung

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:13 pm    Post subject: I cant believe how people drive here. Reply with quote

I am new to Korea and I cannot believe how people drive here! I asked one of my co-teachers if red lights were optional here, because of the sheer number of people just flying through them while laying on their horns. People tailgate, dont signal, cut each other off or just stop in the middle of a freeway without pulling over because they missed their exit.

I have not yet seen a single accident. I guess with everyone driving like a madman it just works, but I bet if one person drove sanely it would cause a 10 car pileup.
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Baby Wipes



Joined: 30 Aug 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I see accidents every day. Last week i was on a bus on my way to my school and a car veered in front of us. The bus smashed into the car and steamrolled over it killing the driver. I didn't dare look. When i got off the bus i turned my head away and just climbed onto another bus, The crazy thing is that i barely felt the impact. The bus hit that car like it was made of cardboard.
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Old Gil



Joined: 26 Sep 2009
Location: Got out! olleh!

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No not the worst, but could be a lot better.
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Savant



Joined: 25 May 2007

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I voted Yes. When I went to Thailand, I thought it was going to be far worse than Korea. In certain cases, it was true (Chiang Mai) but I found they generally stopped at red lights and didn't generally stop anywhere they pleased blocking all other traffic. Even the bikers stopped for red lights.

Yesterday evening, I saw two motorcycle delivery guys sprawled on the road; obviously, they wiped each other out. Did I care? Not in the slightest! They paid the price for the death wish driving style that these guys commonly display.

Koreans don't possess a "driving brain". All they know how to do is keep going forward; the other aspects of responsible driving are alien to them.
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Xuanzang



Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fender benders happen all the time. I don't know if I'd call them the worst though. Seen some atrocious driving in Shanghai and Beijing.
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mayorgc



Joined: 19 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not the worst. But still quite dangerous.
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Smee



Joined: 24 Dec 2004
Location: Jeollanam-do

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

When I was in Vietnam I was amazed by how congested the roads are, and amazed at what one has to do to try and cross the street.

The big difference between Vietnam and Korea, though, is in Vietnam people avoid accidents by generally driving slowly. In Korea, people drive the same way they walk . . . or perhaps walk the same way they drive: with total disregard for everyone else. I get annoyed when people stop suddenly in the middle of the aisle, or turn without looking, or push in front of me, or go the wrong way, or do whatever they please without paying attention to people around them. I'm sure I'd go crazy trying to drive here.

I'll quote from a post I did about TVs on the dashboard:
Quote:
Mounting a television on a Korean's dashboard has to be among the worst ideas dreamed up on the peninsula this decade, because they certainly don't need help being terrible drivers. South Korea was ranked among the worst countries to drive in the world by Forbes earlier this year. A 2005 Times article had stats from 2003 that showed South Korea had the highest motor vehicle accident rate in the OCED, while the latest data (.pdf) using figures from 2004 shows South Korea has the second-highest number of road vehicle fatalities per million drivers, behind Turkey. 42% of children under 15 who died in Korea in 2005 were killed in traffic accidents, and South Korea has the highest accident rate among pedestrians in the OECD, though that last statistic owes just as much to people not knowing how to walk.
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Murakano



Joined: 10 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

no, I have seen worse. India for example.

For Europe, the Italians and Portuguese are pretty bad. red lights are there for decoration purposes only (much like Korea Very Happy)
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Sector7G



Joined: 24 May 2008

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 9:41 pm    Post subject: Re: I cant believe how people drive here. Reply with quote

Loudog wrote:


I have not yet seen a single accident. I guess with everyone driving like a madman it just works, but I bet if one person drove sanely it would cause a 10 car pileup.


I have wondered about this myself. It's like people expect things to happen like someone pulling out in front of them or cutting them off so they don't get mad about it. The closest thing I have seen to road rage was a bus driver getting out at a traffic light and saying something to a driver ahead who had done something the bus driver did not like.

But its not just the disregard for traffic regulations, and more importantly, pedestrians, that amazes me. Many simply don't know how to operate a vehicle in the first place. They have the hardest time with the simplest maneuvers like backing up, turning around, even pulling straight into a parking space. Again, maybe I am generalizing, but that's what it seems like to me.


Last edited by Sector7G on Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:02 am; edited 1 time in total
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Underwaterbob



Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 10:06 pm    Post subject: Re: I cant believe how people drive here. Reply with quote

Sector7G wrote:
The closest thing I have seen to road rage was a bus driver getting out at a traffic light and saying something to a driver ahead who had done something the bus driver did not like.


There's an entire thread dedicated to Korean road rage somewhere.
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halfmanhalfbiscuit



Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 10:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I give the finger to drivers who don't stop at pedestrian crossings a good 2-3 times a week. And shout something if they give "the wave" or are on their fekking phones.

They're total idiots.

I don't know how Korea doesn't spontaneously explode.
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Loudog



Joined: 22 Oct 2009
Location: Shiheung

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 10:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Baby Wipes wrote:
I see accidents every day. Last week i was on a bus on my way to my school and a car veered in front of us. The bus smashed into the car and steamrolled over it killing the driver. I didn't dare look. When i got off the bus i turned my head away and just climbed onto another bus, The crazy thing is that i barely felt the impact. The bus hit that car like it was made of cardboard.


Eeeewww. I hope I never have to see anything like that. Unfortunately I have to take the bus everywhere so chances are, eventually I will.
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detourne_me



Joined: 26 May 2006

PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2009 10:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

my apartment complex complex (yes a complex of complexes) is packed to the gills with cars and kids every morning. My GF was going to give me a ride this morning, but traffic was especially bad, so I decided to hoof it.

About two minutes later I saw a guy driving and thought to myself "He's going way too fast in this area"
Literally a second later "BANG!" I turn around and he just had a front end collision with someone. I really had to laugh out loud when the drivers stepped out and the other guy started cussing him out... in front of about 10 elementary students.
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Manuel_the_Bandito



Joined: 12 Sep 2009

PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anyone who thinks Koreans are that bad really hasn't travelled the world much.
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Hank the Iconoclast



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: Busan

PostPosted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think China is worse but for a country that is striving to show themselves as "developed" Korea is particular bad in the driving department. The drivers in my area are downright reckless and show absolutely no regard for pedestrians or other drivers.
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