Korean Job Discussion Forums

[LPKSA]

https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/police-south-korea-singer-dies-van-accident-010614259.html



Sad day for K-Pop.

[jazzmaster]

I care not for K-pap but it's sad to see a young woman die in a car accident.

Perhaps the silver lining could be that it encourages people to wear seat belts even when they are in the back seat.

[Cave Dweller]

Agreed.

[Sector7G]

[ironjohn]

For some reason this particular story has resonated with me. It's such a sad event, but what saddens me further is the news coverage that I've read so far. (Though admittedly, it's all been in English. If anyone has more info based on Korean reports, I would welcome it.)

I get the JoongAng newspaper delivered every morning and was particularly struck by this article:

http://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2994664

Being American, I can't help but compare the reporting to what I would expect back home, and in the US, any time there is coverage of a car accident, the two most important questions are always:

1. Was alcohol involved?
2. Were the driver/passengers wearing seat belts?

The key point is that both questions speak to personal responsibility. Traveling in a car is inherently risky, and accidents are going to happen. While a passenger or driver cannot control improperly working airbags or shoddy vehicle maintenance/manufacturing (all of which need to be investigated), the passenger or driver can control the above two situations regarding alcohol and seat belts (a passenger can choose to wear a seat belt, and choose not to get into a car with an intoxicated driver), so I feel these two points have to be the baseline for any discussion about safety.

It is the latter question about seat belts not even being raised in the JoongAng article that struck me as sad and rather frightening. And I have struggled to find a story that actually confirms whether the members of Ladies Code were or weren't wearing their seat belts. (Though I did discover that even if they were, that particular type of van had only lap belts [as opposed to the three-point shoulder-type belts], which have been illegal in new vehicles in the US as of 2007.)

Ever since the Sewol accident, I've been saddened and frustrated by the public outcry here for regulation reform and enforcement, but very little outcry for changes in everyday personal behavior. Specifically, I'm thinking of public attitudes toward seat belts (I've heard numerous times that seat belts aren't necessary in the back seat), and the lax attitudes toward red lights/sidewalks/crosswalks by the drivers of scooters and cars.

If Korea is serious about reinventing itself as a safe nation, I think these are the two areas it should focus on first, because they are behaviors in which each and every individual has the ability to change.

[jvalmer]

[nicwr2002]

Wasn't she sitting in the middle back seat? You would definitely need to wear a seat belt then.

[CentralCali]

It's foolish to not wear a seat belt in an automobile. It's also quite common in South Korea for both drivers and passengers to not wear the things.

[atwood]

I know that research done by either Saab or Volvo found that it was safer to not wear a seat belt in the rear seat due IIRC to getting trapped in the car. This was years ago so may have been superceded by newer technology.

What I could now find on it said that wearing a seat belt in the rear seat decreased the number of deaths for those riding in the front seats who are sometimes crushed by the rear seat passengers but didn't say mucc specific about making rear passengers safer.

Still--"Buckle Up, It's the Law!"