Driving in Korea (and a habanero)

[paanar]

The thing that I hate the most about driving in Korea, and this applies to the Korean culture in general, is the lip-service they pay to being polite. On one hand you have , for example, a guy (I will refer to everyone as guy though I am sure most of them are actually chics) that will stop and let you go at a T intersection where you would normally have to wait a while for an opening. On the other hand that guy will stop 100 meters up the road to let a passenger out. And the whole culture is that way. They put such extreme emphasis on the polite form of words and when to bow and when to act like you are not worthy of being in some old guy's presence, but really they are thinking 'jeeze that guy is an asshole'. I mean, when I'm driving and some guy in front of me stops right in the way to let someone out of the car I just wonder; Am I an asshole? Did I punch that guy yesterday and he's getting back at me by making me wait 5 minutes to unload some idiot or, going back to the T intersection: Dude, there are rules about who goes first. I'm all for being nice but don't fuck me over because you want to get in your good karma points for the day.

Speaking of rules, who goes first at a four-way intersection? Since you probably don't know because you are also an idiot, I'll give you a hint: The person on the right. Why is it so hard for people to remember that? Then there are the intersections where people see imaginary stop signs. Just this morning I was stopped at a stop sign and observed this exact situation. The giant duche in the truck to my left slowed to a stop for... a crosswalk. Jesus Christ! That crosswalk looks like a fucking stop sign?!?! I just sat there and glared at him for what was at least 3 minutes before he finally decided to go.

And let's not forget the hazard lights. In Korea you can do anything you want as long as you honk and/or put on your hazard lights. Need to run a stop light? Just honk. Need to turn right from the far left lane? Just honk and or use the hazards. Need to run into the bank for 10 minutes? Just use the hazards - it will only be a moment. In fact, in Korean cars the hazard lights aren't activated by the itty-bitty button hidden behind the stering wheel - it's a ginormous button about half the size of a dollar right in the middle of the dash. I'm pretty sure this is so any passenger older than 2 can also activate it. "Honey, hit the hazard before you open the door, we don't want anyone to miss the fact that were stopping IN THE MIDDLE OF THE GODDAMNED ROAD!"

Let's see.... Ah, yes. Passing on the right. So theres a stop light, right? And, two lanes for through traffic and one each for left and right turning traffic. WRONG! In Korea there are only passing lanes. I shit you not: On the way home today I am turning right on red and there are cars moving through the intersection. RIGHT ON RED! The dude behind me thinks I'm not going fast enough (or something) so he gets into the through lane by basically driving sideways down the crosswalk in front of the first car, then goes into the intersection and makes a right turn in front of me. Or, maybe there are only lanes for playing leap-frog with your car. Yesterday I was stopped in the through lane at the line. Some enormous dick uses the right lane to pass veryone waiting patiently then pulls right in front of me and stopped in the sidewalk. Not to be outdone, some mastadonic dick follows suit pulling up right in front the other guy. Only, this second dick isn't in the sidewalk he is damn near in the middle of the intersection. Then he just sits there while a giant truck trying to turn honks at him because hes in the way. And then he just sits there as if to say 'I'm not in the way, perhaps you should go around'.

The center yellow line. Am I the only person that knows that a solid yellow means NEVER FUCKING CROSS UNDER PENALTY OF DEATH!?!? I cannot count the number of times I have personally seen the yellow line violated. Be it making a u-turn, turning left across, crossing to pass on the left or just plain being a road hog. and I don't mean I can't caount that high. I mean it's some astronomical number that literally cannot be counted, like a fucking googoplex or some shit.

Anyway, I'm sure I've missed some but I feel a lot better now.

P.S. This is my habanero plant. I hope it doesn't freeze to death before I get some peppers out of it.

[Occido]

Asians...Driving...

nuff said.

[Blumpster]

I think they can get away with it, Koreans have crazy micro, you just can't hang.

[splok]

When I first moved to Korea, I felt really, really strange not having a car (as most Americans would I assume), but after a while, I didn't even want one. Taxis there are WAY cheaper than the frustration that driving would cause, not even taking into account the cost and trouble of driving/parking there. When you're in a taxi and people do fucked up stuff, you can just sit back, think, "wow, that was fucked up!" and just be amused at the situation. That's way harder to do if you're the driver.

I guess the moral of the story is Korea is way more enjoyable if you can stay in spectator mode.

[Picasso]

Asian Dangerous Traffic
Uploaded by 7777777jorma. -

ACTUALLY, THE ASIAN FREE FLOW DRIVER CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT IS A MODEL OF EFFICIENCY TO BE STUDIED BY ALL NATIONS IN REGARDS TO TRAFFIC ENGINEERING.

IN GAYMAN'S TERMS, IT WORKS BECAUSE EVERYONE IS PAYING ATTENTION, AND IF EVERYONE NEVER HITS ANYONE IN FRONT OF THEM, THEN NO ONE EVER GETS HIT.

NOT TO MENTION THE CONTRAST THIS MODEL HAS TO THE AMERICAN METHOD OF STOP LIGHT RIGID GRID TRAFFIC WHICH ASSUMES WE'RE ALL BRAINDEAD FAT FUCKS (jump on it european) AND REQUIRES FREQUENT STOP LIGHT OPTIMIZATION TO BE LESS THAN A PIECE OF DOG SHIT.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

[Laven]

Originally Posted by Picasso

Asian Dangerous Traffic
Uploaded by 7777777jorma. -

ACTUALLY, THE ASIAN FREE FLOW DRIVER CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT IS A MODEL OF EFFICIENCY TO BE STUDIED BY ALL NATIONS IN REGARDS TO TRAFFIC ENGINEERING.

IN GAYMAN'S TERMS, IT WORKS BECAUSE EVERYONE IS PAYING ATTENTION, AND IF EVERYONE NEVER HITS ANYONE IN FRONT OF THEM, THEN NO ONE EVER GETS HIT.

NOT TO MENTION THE CONTRAST THIS MODEL HAS TO THE AMERICAN METHOD OF STOP LIGHT RIGID GRID TRAFFIC WHICH ASSUMES WE'RE ALL BRAINDEAD FAT FUCKS (jump on it european) AND REQUIRES FREQUENT STOP LIGHT OPTIMIZATION TO BE LESS THAN A PIECE OF DOG SHIT.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

Jesus christ, I would rather have traffic grids any day over that shit, could you imagine people from new york or any other big city driving through shit like that? People would be getting killed from crowbars, bats, tireirons left and right

[ihavemustache]

I thought there were no four way stops, and the way they dealt with intersections without stop lights was just slowing down before you get to it and cautiously driving through/turning.

[McCheese]

One of the first things I learned when traveling is that people outside of North America can't drive for shit.

[kasey]

Originally Posted by Picasso

Asian Dangerous Traffic
Uploaded by 7777777jorma. -

my jaw dropped, i will be driving one of the following once i get there ( the last pic is traffic where i come from, no cool AZN kamikaze crazies =( )

[Dis]

Having lived in Korea for a year, let me be the first to say, it is impossible not to have a fucked up front or rear fender living in that country.

They live by the motto "whoever is bigger has right away, and if you forgot who is bigger, sucks to be you". Also, they have no problem with the "rubbing is racing" motto either. Too close? Whats the problem...

Hey there is an inch gap between you and this other car, and I need to change lanes, let me just hit both of you because I have that inch gap.

I was in a Kimchi bus riding to Osan, and it was a beautiful day out, we were flying down what was once a two way street, but now only enough room for one car, but still with traffic going both ways, watching cars dart in and out of the way of our bus as we barreled 60 mph down a small corridor. Next thing I know a motorcycle is launched about 12 feet in the air and into a crowd of folk on the sidewalk knocking them over.

Bus stops, fortuneatly know one was on said bike, we think the bus driver is going to find out who owns the bike and do some kind of information exchange. Now all the bus drivers wear white gloves. He goes to the front of his bus, rubs the bumper, all the while the crowd of people that got knocked over are saying something (more like yelling politely in disbelief at the driver). He looks at them after rubbing said bumper, gets back in the buss, and we take off at 60 again.

Next thing we know, some guy is trying to chase us down as we accelerate off, the only thing me and my buddy could think of doing, is wave and say "sorry". Honestly one of the most wierdest events in my vehicular related history.

Its loony tunes in Korea when it comes to driving. At your own risk, Id rather ride a bus and let them deal with it.

[dak]

I'm a super cautious driver, even if I have right away I still slow down and look around at intersections to make sure no assholes are running red lights or failing to yield, especially when I am driving downtown.

I'm not going to get hit by some drunk Mexican who can barely speak English enough to understand road signs just because you don't feel like waiting an extra three seconds at a four way stop.

If you are behind me and have a problem come say something, I keep a gun in my glove box.

[splok]

Oh ya, almost forgot... I went to Jeju for a week and rented a scooter to get around on (couldn't rent a car without an international driver's license >< ), and I think that was by far the most dangerous thing I've ever done (and considering some of the shit I did in a car in my younger years, is saying something).

[PigBenis]

Me cruising around in a tuk tuk in India with some ladies. Shit is mad.

[Galgor]

Yeah. The politeness thing goes overboard, but there are times you might enjoy it.

I had a friend lose his wallet and it was anonymously mailed back to him a week later.

[Aamry]

Originally Posted by paanar

Speaking of rules, who goes first at a four-way intersection? Since you probably don't know because you are also an idiot, I'll give you a hint: The person on the right. Why is it so hard for people to remember that?

This. There is a shopping center near my parents place littered with four way stops, and without fail there is at least one person every time who doesn't understand when it is their turn, and has to be skipped over.