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le-paul
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
Location: dans la chambre
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 Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
For all those saying how terrible Koreans are on the road. They are getting better, trust me. Go back a decade, it was awful. Go back to the 80's around Seoul Olympics, it was downright scary.
At least now they stop if they hit something. And they don't really jump the red-light anymore. |
s'true. And Ive noticed it seems to becoming more the norm to affix a black box into your car now to record accidents. Most the people i know who ride mbikes have them so they can prove they wernt to blame.
Once the habit of ritually suing people becomes more prevalent, im sure with the aid of the black box, things will calm down alot more. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
For all those saying how terrible Koreans are on the road. They are getting better, trust me. Go back a decade, it was awful. Go back to the 80's around Seoul Olympics, it was downright scary.
At least now they stop if they hit something. And they don't really jump the red-light anymore. |
Just wish the red light didn't last so long here. Seems like the light changed more frequently in Canada or is that just me? |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| ...they don't really jump the red-light anymore. |
And a lot of them don't bother stopping for it either. I have serious doubts over how hard it is to get a licence here. In the UK, it is bastard hard and they try to make sure you are completely trustworthy in a vehicle.
It seems like they just hand out the licences here in the same way they do degrees... |
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Scorpion
Joined: 15 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| And they don't really jump the red-light anymore. |
Get your eyes tested! |
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3DR
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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There is a crosswalk near my house where for some reason, there is no traffic light facing in one direction. So when the crosswalk is green for walking, unsuspecting people are walking and nearly being hit by cars coming from the other direction. Seriously don't get why they designed it like that.
Near my school, I have pulled my students back on more than one occasion because they were ready to dart out into the street right as the cross walk said go, but a stupid bus or idiot driver is coming in way past the red light.
Seriously infuriating. |
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Smithington
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:32 pm Post subject: |
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| 3DR wrote: |
There is a crosswalk near my house where for some reason, there is no traffic light facing in one direction. So when the crosswalk is green for walking, unsuspecting people are walking and nearly being hit by cars coming from the other direction. Seriously don't get why they designed it like that.
Near my school, I have pulled my students back on more than one occasion because they were ready to dart out into the street right as the cross walk said go, but a stupid bus or idiot driver is coming in way past the red light.
Seriously infuriating. |
I know what you mean about there being a traffic light to the left, but none to the right. It's a recipe for disaster. Things like that are what have convinced me that, economy aside, Korea is still (at best) a developing country. I see situations like that all the time and I'm just baffled. I've even seen them near elementary schools, but it doesn't seem to register as a safety issue with the principal.
I just see too many absurdities here - on a daily basis - to ever consider Korea a developed country.
Last edited by Smithington on Mon Jun 17, 2013 11:34 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 3:57 am Post subject: |
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Basic rule for all pedestrians in K-land...
Keep your head on a swivel because drivers are not that aware of you. If it seems clear, look again and keep looking as you cross the street.
While conditions have improved over the years (more crosswalks, better signal lights, improved driver awareness), I would still say the swivel rule is a critical requirement for any pedestrian in K-land cities.
In Busan, is was the worst that in Seoul (in my experience).
Buses are to be watched especially closely as are motobikes & scooters and of course taxis.
When the crosswalk says go, wait a second or two, check and then go.
Do not do what many idiots are doing now where we live in Canada: text and walk. In Korea that is a sure way to end up in the hospital.
PS Did not notice if Korean pedestrians text and walk last summer. I saw a few but no idea if it is as bad as it is here. |
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Savant
Joined: 25 May 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:06 am Post subject: |
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Wonder if Korea has the highest ratio of in-car black box ownership per population in the world?
Been here 5 years now and can't say Korean driving habits have improved; more of the same same. They've stagnated at the level of being consistently inconsiderate with mild bouts of idiocy.
| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
| PS Did not notice if Korean pedestrians text and walk last summer. I saw a few but no idea if it is as bad as it is here. |
Korean walking/bike riding/driving while texting has been on the rise. Can't walk in Seoul these days without having to navigate around someone staring straight down at their smartphone. |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:20 am Post subject: |
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| Sometimes I get so angry at Korean drivers that I think they should not be allowed to control anything more complicated than a shopping trolley. And then I go to Emart and some of them seem to have problems doing that. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:37 am Post subject: |
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| Savant wrote: |
Wonder if Korea has the highest ratio of in-car black box ownership per population in the world?
Been here 5 years now and can't say Korean driving habits have improved; more of the same same. They've stagnated at the level of being consistently inconsiderate with mild bouts of idiocy.
| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
| PS Did not notice if Korean pedestrians text and walk last summer. I saw a few but no idea if it is as bad as it is here. |
Korean walking/bike riding/driving while texting has been on the rise. Can't walk in Seoul these days without having to navigate around someone staring straight down at their smartphone. |
Figured as much...texting while being in transit is becoming a bane. Heck a girl in Montreal died because she was texting and walking and fell between two subway cars while thinking she was boarding the subway. There was a similar incident near my wor involving a bus and a pedestrian who was texting as he walked.
As for drivers, I can mostly speak of Busan and can honestly say that 10 years ago using a crosswalk was often a danger to your life. Now it is pretty much routine (head on swivel of course) and drivers for the most part let pedestrians cross (last summer they did). |
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CentralCali
Joined: 17 May 2007
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| Savant wrote: |
| Wonder if Korea has the highest ratio of in-car black box ownership per population in the world? |
I think Russia has that honor owing to the wildly popular jumping and falling near a car scam. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 6:34 am Post subject: |
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| CentralCali wrote: |
| Savant wrote: |
| Wonder if Korea has the highest ratio of in-car black box ownership per population in the world? |
I think Russia has that honor owing to the wildly popular jumping and falling near a car scam. |
Again, please, OH PLEASE, for your own sake, check youtube for those Russian Road Rage videos.
Nothing like watching some van bus getting into a collision, and seeing 10 Russian skinheads slowly get out of the van and start moving upon the car in front. Or seeing a herd of sheep on the highway. Or seeing someone just start driving through a traffic jam without caring about smashing into other cars. Or seeing fights break out and guns drawn after minor fender benders. Or seeing cars driving on rims. Or seeing some beater car get in a fender bender and two obvious mob types just calmly get out of the car, walk away, and abandon the scene.
Grab the popcorn and enjoy. |
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DanseurVertical
Joined: 24 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:01 am Post subject: |
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| Captain Corea wrote: |
| Underwaterbob wrote: |
I was more or less with you until the trollbait "apologist" term got thrown out.
Also, your suggestion is terrible. Just think how much more dangerous it would be if they didn't have them and told people to just cross wherever. |
I feel the same way. I frakkin' hate how drivers treat pedestrians here. |
I thought the same way until I lived in Taiwan for 6 months. Pedestrian right of way is a completely foreign concept there. Pedestrians yield to vehicles in crosswalks, instead of the other way around. One reason for this is that Taiwanese pedestrians don't understand the meaning of asserting one's right of way. In Korea it's similar. A difference is that in Taiwan, you face a multitude of scooters in the crosswalks, as opposed to a taxi or the like, in Korea. In Seoul it's a little better than in other areas. Still, being a pedestrian here is far, far better than in the Taipei area. Be thankful we generally have sidewalks here.
Before I lived in Taiwan, when I saw a motorcycle riding on the sidewalk in Korea, I thought, 'What the hell are you doing?' But after, I don't care so much, because in Taiwan, you just walk in the road.
Not meaning to bash Taiwan in general, but it's a very bad place to live if you like to walk in a city.
Last edited by DanseurVertical on Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:05 am; edited 1 time in total |
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3DR
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 9:03 am Post subject: |
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| cj1976 wrote: |
| Sometimes I get so angry at Korean drivers that I think they should not be allowed to control anything more complicated than a shopping trolley. And then I go to Emart and some of them seem to have problems doing that. |
I think awareness of space and others in general whether it be walking, pushing a cart in emart, or driving is just not high here. |
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b-class rambler
Joined: 25 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 18, 2013 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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| 3DR wrote: |
| cj1976 wrote: |
| Sometimes I get so angry at Korean drivers that I think they should not be allowed to control anything more complicated than a shopping trolley. And then I go to Emart and some of them seem to have problems doing that. |
I think awareness of space and others in general whether it be walking, pushing a cart in emart, or driving is just not high here. |
It's certainly very hard not to come to that conclusion and it's something that still often comes to my mind, even long after getting a lot more used to how things work here.
However, I think another big factor here is that there's a much greater expectation on others to do their bit to avoid a collision. So in other words, if I'm walking down the street looking at my phone and not where I'm going and you're walking towards me, you're not completely devoid of responsibility to move out of the way or do whatever to avoid a collision. Similarly, it seems on the road there's almost as much of an expectation on cars behind to honk and warn of their presence as there is on the cars in front to look in their mirror or over their shoulders to check the way is clear.
For people from the countries most of us come from, where we're more used to the kind of black or white certainty of it's either my right of way here or your right of way here, it can be pretty hard to get used to the much more fluid and confused approach of 'figure it out amongst ourselves...errr...somehow or other' here.
I'm not saying I like or approve of the way it's done here - I usually don't - but if you can't at least partly go towards understanding the different mindset regarding pedestrian and vehicular interaction, then you're probably in for a pretty frustrating daily existence. |
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