Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Who's Your Daddy?]

Interesting article:

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2932331

Basically it says that pizza delivery drivers are getting killed delivering pizzas, and blames the pizza companies. But the article's examples of death are of other drivers breaking laws.

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Kim was on his motorbike, stopped at a red light at the Mullae intersection in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul. As soon as the light turned green, Kim rushed ahead to turn left but was hit by a bus that was trying to speed through a red light. Kim died instantly.

The 30-minute delivery promise claimed another victim last December, after a 24-year-old deliveryman surnamed Choi collided with a taxi in Doksan-dong, southwestern Seoul, on his way to deliver a pizza on Dec. 12.

Both of these accidents were caused by a combination of the deliverymen�s quick starts when the traffic light turned green and the other drivers continuing through the intersection after their light had turned red.

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So the other drivers went through red lights, but it was the pizza guys fault for not anticipating it.

And a bus driver? There should be a story on how common it is for these guys to go through red lights. They are more dangerous than the scooter drivers.

[Dazed and Confused]

Have you ever seen any delivery boy wear a helmet? My father, a three time transplant recipiant, refers to those guys as "donors".

[Jove]

I have ridden in this city for about 5 years now and while I find the red-light running appalling, I do feel that there is some justification for blaming the pizza companies/other delivery services for these accidents.

Do they provide rider training that includes safe and defensive rider training? I highly doubt it. My bet is that they give the delivery guy a 10 minute check out on whether he can control the scooter and then sends him off.

I have seen numerous delivery drivers "playing" on their scooters, swerving dangerously, crossing traffic in a dangerous fashion, and taking off from lights a micro-second after the light turns green. The first are easily avoidable by just not doing them. The last...well, once the light turns green, they do have the right away, but waiting an extra second or so and looking around to see that everyone is stopping in both directions is warranted. A well-trained rider knows that he/she is never going to win in a collision, so it is up to the rider to avoid situations that put you at risk.

[Captain Corea]

I think there's lots of blame to go around.

[atwood]

I read that article and thought much the same thing. However, I do think that they should abolish the 30-minute guarantee in the name of delivery person safety.

Taxi drivers, and I have no doubts that someone here will defend them because they work long hours for low pay, etc., are literally getting away with murder. The police need to stop turning a blind eye to them and all the other drivers who get a free pass because they're "working."

[thurst]

driver safety is one reason that domino's and pizza companies back in the states got rid of the 30 minute or less gurantees, so there's definitely precedence and likely some merit to the argument.

[Hugo85]

Scooter drivers aren't dangerous, there are probably not that many incidents of them hurting someone else. The problem is that they drive dangerously and have zero protection (a helmet is still very little protection).

People who run red lights should be arrested, given huge fine and lose points on their license, no matter who they are. Read the motorbike thread here, half the incident report there are about someone running a red light.

[Steelrails]