|
WHY KOREANS HAVE ACCIDENTS
A lot has been written about why there are so many traffic accidents in Korea. Almost everyday, the newspaper prints someone’ opinion of what the problem is and what needs to be done. Here are a few reasons why Koreans have accidents:
SPEED: Many Koreans seem to think that the only correct way to drive is fast. Even when there is no special reason for speeding, they want to go as fast as conditions will allow.
“Good drivers drive fast.” A lot of Korean drives seem to think that a driver who drives carefully doesn’t know how to drive, and people who drive fast are experts.
IMPROPER USE OF TURN SIGNALS: Either switch on turn signals too late or they don’t use them at all. Most drivers seem to expect the other drivers to know what they’re going to do, even without signaling.
FAILURE TO USE LIGHTS PROPERLY: Many Koreans drivers think that if they can see the road, they don’t have to turn on their lights. What nonsense! Sometimes lights are necessary to allow other drivers to see them! When it starts to get dark, it’s hard to see an approaching car if its light are not turned on. Are those drivers afraid that they will run down the battery?
FAILURE TO OBEY TRAFFIC LAWS: The number of drivers who run red lights or turn left when there is no green arrow is increasing everyday. Often, even though there is a red light, they decide themselves whether it’s necessary to stop or not. It’s almost total anarchy on the roads ? no order at all.
KOREANS GIVE A WHOLE NEW MEANING TO THE WORD, “ IMPATIENT”: Korean drivers waiting at red lights often inch their way closer and closer into the middle of the intersection sometimes even making it hard for approaching cars to make left turns. In the U.S., there is often a sign telling the drivers that they must stop at the white line behind the crosswalk.
NOT ENOUGH ROAD SIGNS: Many intersections have no lights, no stop signs, nothing to indicate who has the right-of-way. So every tries to go at the same time. Speed limit signs should be posted on all. Roads, not just on expressways. Posting speed limits would remind drivers when they’re breaking the law.
FAILURE OF POLICE TO ENFORCE RULES: Korean traffic police are mostly to blame for the mess around traffic signals at busy intersections. In the 1980’s drivers didn’t dare stop in crosswalks, or ahead of them, for fear of getting a traffic ticket. Now drivers stop their cars in crosswalks, making it hard for pedestrians to cross, or even worse, halfway into the intersection. Police do nothing about it. |
