Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Smithington]

I'm always amazed watching Koreans cross the road. I'll grab a coffee and just sit and watch the spectacle of your average person trying to get from "side of the road A" to "side of the road B". (Free entertainment, I tell ya.) Just this morning, while waiting for my bus, I observed one person after another j-walk three feet from the crosswalk in busy traffic. I know many crosswalks are made inoperative by the fact that there's often cars parked on them (even cop cars ), but in so many cases where there are unobstructed crosswalks they still opt to j-walk - two or three feet from the friggin' crosswalk. And they will do this while holding the hand of their three year old kid. Whatever happened to teaching your child good road safety habits. There's a crosswalk just to your left, put there by your government and paid for by your taxes dollars. It's the designated place for you and your family to cross the road safely. Claim that space. It's there to guide you from "side of the road A" to "side of the road B". J-walking mere feet from it is just nuts.

Then there's the people who will start crossing the crossing on an angle, so that they start off the crossing, then on it for seven steps, then off it again. It's madness. Shouldn't people with the world's highest IQ's be able to figure out how a pedestrian crossing works?

Korea is also a major manufacturer of cars. Shouldn't they, therefore, be just a little bit more adept at understanding automobile-related phenomenon like pedestrian crossings?

It is, after all, not a terribly different concept to grasp.

[Steelrails]

Because they are smarter at figuring out how to cross a road than a couple of painted lines?

Come on, its crossing the streets, using the crosswalk doesn't make you smarter, it just makes things more organized. Not even necessarily safer, as people turning right on red might plow into you with no warning. At least in the middle you get some space between you and blind spots.

[wishfullthinkng]

[KimchiNinja]

What I notice is pedestrians wait a few seconds once they get the walk signal before crossing...cause of the enevitable taxi or food delivery scooter who runs the red.

[IPayInCash]

Not to mention the bumping.

Koreans simply arent capable of crossing a street without ramming everyone in sight. No class these people have.

I can walk a crosswalk in Shibuya Tokyo where it must be hundreds crossing at the same time arm and arm next to each other and still not ONE person rams me.

In Korea you can be walking on opposite ends of the crosswalk width wise and a Korean will STILL wander to your side to ram you. This place is insane and manners are simply not taught in this dump.

[Scorpion]

Please understand their unique culture.

[FDNY]

I like the ones who cross the streets looking deeply into their mobiles. Sometimes I think this must be an insurance scam or something, because the inherent danger and unimaginable stupidity of this habit is amazing.

[optik404]

Every foreigner I know (except my japanese female friends) jaywalks in Korea. Is jaywalking a big deal? Obviously if you jaywalk, while listening to music and playing a game at the same time, you're more likely to get run over.

I actually got caught jaywalking by the police, I played the dumb foreigner act, pretended not to understand anything he was saying. He asked for my ID in Korean, then he said "credit card" in English and I gave him my Wachovia debit card. He just told me not to do it again. It was ridiculous though, the road is two lanes wide, everyone jaywalks there.

[KimchiNinja]

[mayorhaggar]

a) what's the point of the white lines that look like a pedestrian crossing painted in the middle of the street or at intersections with no stoplights...when no car EVER will stop to let a pedestrian cross. I never use these white lines because there's no point.

b) stoplights here take an eternity to change, even in my small country town where there's not much traffic. I'm not surprised people don't wait 2 minutes just to cross a street where there's little traffic. Also people probably drive so damn fast because they know if they hit a red light they'll be sitting there for 2 minutes or so.

c) Are there any stop signs in SK? Seems like that would solve a lot of issues. Instead you get stupid mirrors at corners (usually broken or bent so you can't see anything) which don't really work well and are disorienting. Or you get nothing at blind intersections. I guess cars and bikes are supposed to slow down and check there's no traffic, but people just blow through them.

If there are traffic laws here, nobody's enforcing them.

[KimchiNinja]

[IPayInCash]

[andrewchon]

[Steelrails]

I think we've arrived at a conclusion everyone should agree on- Korean jaywalkers aren't stupid, they're actually smart. By jaywalking in the middle of the road, they are doing it at the safest spot possible- Away from corners where Korean drivers run red lights. Furthermore, you reduce your chances of an uncomfortable pedestrian bump!

Problem analyzed by Korean individuals, thinking applied, dangers reduced.

[schwa]

Yep, some crosswalks arent in the right places. Even with lights. Never trust a blind curve, even if you have the pedestrian right of way. Sometimes you're far better off jaywalking a few meters down the road where you can anticipate traffic more clearly.

This is not just a Korean phenomenon. Be safe.