Wouldn’t be so sure with some Russians…
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that was … horrible. remind me never to drive in Korea.
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Watch out for that motorcycle… the car! … THE HOUSE!
(phew…)
Ah, that explains why it so strongly reminded me of the snubnose unimogs. Well, that and the ability to careen wildly over all sorts of obstacles without taking much damage.
No portal axles, though. Thanks!
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It’s like that for real. Maybe not with the same frequency as in the video, but every day I had to commute 20 kilometers in 45 minutes of hell in a major metropolitan area.
I remember counting the number of violations per trip: I saw an average of 4 one-way. I frequently drove through accident scenes with no room to spare. There were frequent days I narrowly avoided death or serious injury by “threading the needle.”
Partial list:
- Overloaded trucks-- factory presses, chemicals, demolition waste.
- Improperly secured lading-- lengths of pipe or rail or boards overhanging tailgates actively working loose, tiedowns and straps swinging free, bouncing boxes, flying debris …
- Taillights out, or taillights modified to shine at overtaking drivers leading to night blindness.
- Debris on road-- metal angle iron, bushes, boulders, industrial sludge, bloodstains with spraypaint outlining bodies.
- No headlights at night … in rain … fast lane … black car … rush hour … tinted windows.
- Toll booth scofflaws of all kinds. Just imagine. Blowing through hi-pass lanes at speed.
- Cutting vehicles off, slamming on brakes. Every. Single. Time.
- Lane drifting aways (look where tires are pointed, not turn signals).
- Splitting lanes always, and to restrict passing.
- More aggressive driving (couldn’t see headlights in rearview mirror, swinging between lanes, changing lanes without any stopping distance at all).
- No brake lights.
- Changing lanes and sideswiping without slowing.
- Clipping mirrors at speed.
- Braking to intentionally cause an accident spin-out (vehicle size differentials).
- Abrupt lane changes, no warning, no flashers.
- Selectively running red lights (accepted practice).
- Switching lanes while making a redlight turn into another vehicle’s blindspot.
- Cutting corners (literally), racing from stop light to merge lanes ahead of vehicles.
- Un-chocked trucks parked on extreme grades.
- Priority red-light running in order-- people, loaded dump trucks at speed, people, buses, people, taxis, people, motorbikes, people, cars, people.
- Driving on sidewalk, crosswalk against lights.
- Dueling buses. Large-vehicle road rage.
- Pedestrian indifference to danger while in danger.
- Farm equipment on 100kph roads.
- Extreme near misses-- dumptruck vs fuel truck, taxi vs motorbike, pedestrian vs bus …
- Construction vehicles on blind curves in tunnels …
- Horn as warning, provocation, and peripheral-vision panic-mode simultaneously.
Poor design leading to accidents:
- improper drainage (all roads lead to hydroplaning),
- highway chokepoints 8-12 lanes wide with traffic crossing in X-formation,
- disappearing through-lanes and left turns,
- confusing signage (left turn prohibited, must turn left … use U-turn),
- sound-barrier walls creating blind curves on highways,
- arbitrary red lights (untimed, unsynchronized, nonstandard, reversed light cycles),
- at-grade seven-way intersections (or greater),
- need to use your left-turn signal on a right turn,
- hidden highway ramps (U-turn, underpass, left turn, road splits, gated during peak hours, behind retaining wall … sometimes all at the same time),
- traffic lights with no intersection delay and confusing ambers (is it yellow after left-turn then green, or yellow before stop?),
- turns across traffic on 4-way red lights and no traffic light arrows,
- merges so confusing that no pavement lines can mark lanes leading to free-for-all,
- irrevocable choice of tunnels (quick, which way?),
- traffic and police enforcement by desktop (small but increasing in-person field enforcement) via cameras for speeding, but lacking cameras at traffic lights,
- pedestrian crossings with no peak-hour timers, no off-peak push-buttons.
That was what I could think of off the top of my head … 
On the other hand, shhh don’t tell anyone that Japan is nice …
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Well, much respect to you for surviving what sounds like a bad video game on the roads…
When I’m riding and it starts to rain after a dry spell, that’s the time to stop for a coffee until the roads get a good wash.
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Thanks.
'Twas.
Every single accident I had there was someone else’s fault.
Normally, foreigners are automatically considered in the wrong. First to arrive at an accident scene is the insurance company, then police if you dispute the events. Yeah, they don’t bother actually giving tickets or arresting drivers (unless it’s really serious).
I once got hit by a taxi at a U-turn at which I waited several seconds before proceeding on the light. Got beeped at. Hit me in my blind spot. Taxi driver claimed it was my fault. Disputed. Cops broke the seals on the black box video recorder. Taxi’s fault.
At the station, the taxi driver got reamed out by the sargeant. Driver apologized, then “disappeared” later for insurance purposes. (No, he didn’t die … felt sorry for the old guy, but the insurance company didn’t want to pay out.)
That was very satisfying. And my folks were in the car, visiting the country for the first time. Welcome to Korea. Free chiropractic. Wife was upset, but hey the rental car was nice, what can you do?
Didn’t really play videogames much after that …
Meanwhile, much respect for Korean motorcycle cops. I’ve seen those guys direct traffic on backed-up exit ramps while standing in the middle of speeding traffic on highways. Those guys don’t flinch, they’re tough nuts.
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Those were some pretty impressive if risky takedown moves. I wonder why they started smashing the windshield when the window is right there…
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