Korean Job Discussion Forums

[machoman]

[InDaGu]

Back in July, a taxi cut me off and stopped to pick up a passenger. I didn't collide with the taxi, but laid it down in an effort to stop. The result was a concussion, separated shoulder, and, worst of all, a broken shoulder socket.

I now have 2 screws in my shoulder for the rest of my life and permanent scars on my elbow and calf (in addition to my surgery scar). I'm still rehabbing, and only have about 80% range of motion with my right arm so far. My shoulder is really sore every morning, and this cold weather isn't helping.

On the bright side, I have a meeting with the taxi's insurance company next week to discuss compensation, so keep your fingers crossed.

[Died By Bear]

[Stalin84]

I dropped my bike a few times when I was learning how to ride it in the back roads of Suwon. Once just out in front of my own apartment building because I was swerving around slush only to go through other slush and knock the bike over. It was pride damaging and I learned that slush is a biker's worst enemy.

The worst accidents my bike ever had were when I wasn't even near it. There was no room in the car park so I began parking it on the street. An adjosshi knocked it over with his SM5 and pushed it several meters because he wanted the parking spot and was in a hurry. I was pissed because the motorcycle wasn't exactly cheap, it was a relatively expensive sport bike.

Another time a taxi driver totalled it. I went downstairs with my helmet in hand to find my bike in pieces. Someone had crashed into it and I found pieces of their bumper/headlights all over the road, mixed in with what was left of my fairings and rearview mirrors. They were nowhere to be found so I had to pay for the whole thing out of hand. Crazy stuff because my bike was on the sidewalk, meaning he crashed and went up over the curb.

Same with the SM5 guy... I tried to confront him about it but it was like talking to a brick wall. He was all spits and swears. As far as he was concerned, he could block the entrance to an emergency room with that thing because the world apparently owes him something. If I actually went to the authorities, they would have sided with whatever story he concocted and I would have ended up paying him. The same guy used to annoy pretty much every tenant on that street because he had a habit of blocking the front doors of buildings with his car. One time I could only get four or five inches clearance from the front door or else I'd hit his car. Such is life.

[cragesmure]

I bet I have the most disappointing story of everyone. I had never ridden a motorbike before, so I was learning for the first time on a tiny backstreet in Busan. So I'm trying to get me head around the clutch/gears/brakes and whatnot, going at a very low speed. A car was coming the other way at an equally low speed. Instinct took over and I veered left, which is natural in Australia, but not so much in Korea. It was absolutely my fault (wrong side of the road), but we were both moving so slowly that it wasn't even a man-crash. I just kind of flopped onto the hood of his car like a wet fish, jumped off, apologised and went on my way. He was pretty nice about the whole thing and no damage done, so now we both have a pretty average story to tell our grandchildren.
Told you my story sucked.

[toonchoon]

never fell, but had friends take bad spills, get hurt, end up in hospital for a month or so.

the closest i ever came to disaster on my 50cc scooter was when a BMW sideswiped me trying to change lanes at 55kmph. was scary! i stayed on my bike.

[lorenchristopher]

I've been driving a 125cc scooter for two years now.

I only had one minor accident a couple months after I started driving. Was behind a delivery van....he just slowed down and basically came to a stop. I waited a few seconds, he wasn't doing anything, no blinker light or anything so I decided to go around him on the right.

Of course just as I decide to do this he floors it to make a right turn, without a blinker. I scraped the side of his van and sent me and my scooter to the ground. It was scary when it happened...I rolled on the ground and my head hit the pavement pretty hard (I always wear a helmet so I was ok, no dain bramage that I'm aware of).

I got up and cursed at him in Korean and was like, "You couldn't see?!? WTF?!?" About 8 Koreans ran up to me asking if I was ok. I think the accident looked a lot worse than it turned out to be. Big scrape on the side of my bike....bruised and scraped my shoulder and knee. The guy wasn't angry just in shock and kept apologizing.

I learned: You do NOT have to pass everyone. It's easy to get caught up in that game when you're driving in Seoul. If you do pass cars while they are waiting at a light, do it slowly!!

[thomas pars]

just don't do it.

I know it is enticing. Bikes are cheap. Licences are easy to get.
But Jesus. Look at the way Koreans drive here. They don't even let
PEDESTRIANS cross in front of them on a crosswalk. Why would you want to drive here?

Save up. Buy a bike back home. And ride there were it is much much safer.

[kimchi_pizza]

I don't wanna jinx myself...
But 5 years in and not even a close call and I've been to plenty of places
but nearly all that time in the countryside and never in Seoul so I'm sure
that makes a difference.

I also think the louder the muffler, the safer you are. I had a 250cc
Mirage and asked the mechanic to punch a few small holes in the rear of
the muffler with a hammer and screw driver for added sound effect.

Now I have a 600cc Honda Steed with a straight-pipe. Loud enough to set
off car alarms and turn heads. Which, if you want to be safe, is what you
want and make your pressence known.

[machoman]

[jacksthirty]

I had a minor accident last year. I was at a junction, the light turned green and my bike stalled. Next thing I know there's a loud bang and I'm struggling to keep the bike upright. Turns out, a lady shunted into the back of me! I followed her to a nearby hospital where they took several x-rays and gave me some pills. I still had some back pain the following Monday and the doc said that I'd sprained my back. A few weeks of physical therapy solved that.

Funny thing was, my bike was fine! I seem to have a metal roll cage around my bike and that took the brunt of the blow. It left a nice dent in her car though.

Had a few other scrapes, and I've come to hate the green lino in underground parking lots when it's wet! I once drove home in the pouring rain. I thanked the gods that I got home safely, but as soon as I went on the green stuff, my bike did a slow (and somewhat graceful) 180 as it slowly spun to the ground!

Another time, when it was wet, I was racing for the light, missed it (by a mile) and reached for the handbrake..... This was right in front of a cop. He helped me move my broken bike ( ) to the side of the road and kept pointing to the foot brake!

So

1. Never speed excessively
2. Always look in your mirrors
3. Don't drink and drive!
4. If it's wet, watch out!!!!!!

[wormholes101]

[v88]

I nailed a taxi who did an illegal u-turn across 2 lanes of traffic mid block.

I flew over the taxi. I was wearing full kit; armor, boots, helmet, gloves and leather. Got hurt a little bit, mostly had bruised nuts...kinda sucked but the taxi driver had to pay for my bike to get nicely fixed up.

Other than that, nothin...except for bumping a taxi while lane splitting.

Always be vigilant while riding here.

[BoholDiver]

Care to share an amount? Anything less than $100,000 wouldn't be worth it.

[redaxe]