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murmanjake
Joined: 21 Oct 2008
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 Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 3:31 pm Post subject: Re: CAR |
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| northway wrote: |
| Mr. Peabody wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
Driving here isn't too different from driving in a city in the US Northeast. |
You're joking, right?
Redmonkey, watch this video. Many clips are from Korea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E4LDUe5K_4
Driving here is crazy. Nothing like the US.
Red light? Who cares! Double yellow lines? Very pretty! One way street? Oops! Sorry about that! Parking or even driving on the sidewalk? Pedestrians, lookout!
I commute to work by car over 1500 kilometers a month. I love it. |
I'm quite serious. Have you ever driven in New York or Boston, particularly at rush hour? |
I was surprised my first time driving here. I'd expected madness and it was surprisingly predictable. From the sidewalk it seems chaotic, and I have my fair share of gripes against drivers who ram through crosswalks and drive on the sidewalk, but when you're on the road it seems like the norm, and well, it just feels normal. I did my fair share of "rule-breaking" and accidentally cutting off pedestrians. It's the organization of the streets that's mostly to blame, not necessarily the drivers. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 7:05 pm Post subject: Re: CAR |
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| murmanjake wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| Mr. Peabody wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
Driving here isn't too different from driving in a city in the US Northeast. |
You're joking, right?
Redmonkey, watch this video. Many clips are from Korea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E4LDUe5K_4
Driving here is crazy. Nothing like the US.
Red light? Who cares! Double yellow lines? Very pretty! One way street? Oops! Sorry about that! Parking or even driving on the sidewalk? Pedestrians, lookout!
I commute to work by car over 1500 kilometers a month. I love it. |
I'm quite serious. Have you ever driven in New York or Boston, particularly at rush hour? |
I was surprised my first time driving here. I'd expected madness and it was surprisingly predictable. From the sidewalk it seems chaotic, and I have my fair share of gripes against drivers who ram through crosswalks and drive on the sidewalk, but when you're on the road it seems like the norm, and well, it just feels normal. I did my fair share of "rule-breaking" and accidentally cutting off pedestrians. It's the organization of the streets that's mostly to blame, not necessarily the drivers. |
I'd have to agree. If you're an experienced driver from any big city driving in Korea is very similar. Basically look ahead for possible hazards, and get ready for them. If you're from some small town, then I can see you getting overwhelmed.
Guys from behind you really can't do anything about, just hope that big truck driver didn't fall asleep (that's what is the cause for a lot of those trailer truck barreling into cars, happens in Canada too). |
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Mr. Peabody
Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Location: here
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: CAR |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| murmanjake wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| Mr. Peabody wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
Driving here isn't too different from driving in a city in the US Northeast. |
You're joking, right?
Redmonkey, watch this video. Many clips are from Korea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E4LDUe5K_4
Driving here is crazy. Nothing like the US.
Red light? Who cares! Double yellow lines? Very pretty! One way street? Oops! Sorry about that! Parking or even driving on the sidewalk? Pedestrians, lookout!
I commute to work by car over 1500 kilometers a month. I love it. |
I'm quite serious. Have you ever driven in New York or Boston, particularly at rush hour? |
I was surprised my first time driving here. I'd expected madness and it was surprisingly predictable. From the sidewalk it seems chaotic, and I have my fair share of gripes against drivers who ram through crosswalks and drive on the sidewalk, but when you're on the road it seems like the norm, and well, it just feels normal. I did my fair share of "rule-breaking" and accidentally cutting off pedestrians. It's the organization of the streets that's mostly to blame, not necessarily the drivers. |
I'd have to agree. If you're an experienced driver from any big city driving in Korea is very similar. Basically look ahead for possible hazards, and get ready for them. If you're from some small town, then I can see you getting overwhelmed.
Guys from behind you really can't do anything about, just hope that big truck driver didn't fall asleep (that's what is the cause for a lot of those trailer truck barreling into cars, happens in Canada too). |
Driving is driving, that much is true. But the sheer number of asshats that blatantly disregard even the most basic rules of the road is staggering, compared to the USA.
For example, just this afternoon, I was driving through the tunnel in Mapo going to cross the Seongsan Bridge and here comes this 20 ton truck that needs to cross 6 lanes of traffic to get to his exit for World Cup Stadium. He clearly cannot merge and make the exit, so he just stops in two lanes and begins to inch out across lane number three. Luckily I was in lane number 4 and quickly got around him. Very normal.
Driving here is just like home?  |
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wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:17 pm Post subject: Re: CAR |
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| northway wrote: |
| I'm quite serious. Have you ever driven in New York or Boston, particularly at rush hour? |
^ this. seoul is really no worse than many places in the usa. if people think that driving in seoul is bad then they really need to take a trip to a place like manila. now that is truly insane. places like new york and seoul are tame in comparison. |
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akcrono
Joined: 11 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 9:24 pm Post subject: Re: CAR |
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| northway wrote: |
| Mr. Peabody wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
Driving here isn't too different from driving in a city in the US Northeast. |
You're joking, right?
Redmonkey, watch this video. Many clips are from Korea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E4LDUe5K_4
Driving here is crazy. Nothing like the US.
Red light? Who cares! Double yellow lines? Very pretty! One way street? Oops! Sorry about that! Parking or even driving on the sidewalk? Pedestrians, lookout!
I commute to work by car over 1500 kilometers a month. I love it. |
I'm quite serious. Have you ever driven in New York or Boston, particularly at rush hour? |
We have the same stupid drivers in the US (I'm from Boston). Korea might have a few more (percentage wise), as people in the US are more dependent on cars and have more experience. But it's mostly the same crap. |
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Mr. Peabody
Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Location: here
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:53 pm Post subject: Re: CAR |
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| wishfullthinkng wrote: |
| northway wrote: |
| I'm quite serious. Have you ever driven in New York or Boston, particularly at rush hour? |
^ this. seoul is really no worse than many places in the usa. if people think that driving in seoul is bad then they really need to take a trip to a place like manila. now that is truly insane. places like new york and seoul are tame in comparison. |
Granted, Manila, Hanoi, Bangkok, HCMC, Beijing, ect...are much worse compared to Seoul, but I had no idea that places like Boston and New York were just as bad as Seoul.
Being from Southern California where the car is king, pretty much everyone, except for the most recent of immigrants, can drive. The vast majority of drivers know to follow the basic rules of the road and show both common sense and common courtesy.
Now, don't get me wrong, I always knew there were plenty of asshats on the East Coast, I just assumed they could drive...  |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:57 pm Post subject: Re: CAR |
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| Mr. Peabody wrote: |
| Being from Southern California where the car is king, pretty much everyone, except for the most recent of immigrants, can drive. The vast majority of drivers know to follow the basic rules of the road and show both common sense and common courtesy. |
The two lasting memories of driving in Southern California were drivers not signalling when changing lanes on the freeway. And cars not stopping at 4-way stops in certain neighborhoods. Surprised me. And people immediately locking their car doors when they get in.
But despite what you hear, it's easy driving in Korea. Thing is when most foreigners decide to take a spin in Seoul, it's probably their first time driving in a city of 10 million. |
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Mr. Peabody
Joined: 24 Sep 2010
Location: here
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2011 11:08 pm Post subject: Re: CAR |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| Mr. Peabody wrote: |
| Being from Southern California where the car is king, pretty much everyone, except for the most recent of immigrants, can drive. The vast majority of drivers know to follow the basic rules of the road and show both common sense and common courtesy. |
The two lasting memories of driving in Southern California were drivers not signalling when changing lanes on the freeway. And cars not stopping at 4-way stops in certain neighborhoods. Surprised me. And people immediately locking their car doors when they get in. |
haha...can't say I agree about the signaling, but definitely the California stop is a known issue, http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/California_stop and locking your doors upon entering the car? Depends on my route, but yea, makes sense.
But, things change, of course. Drivers could be getting worse as the baby boomers turn into cottontops. I've been driving here so long that maybe I've just forgotten how bad Americans drive, too...  |
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