drivers in south korea really are that bad, my brother in law is born and raised south korean, when he did his mandatory military service while he was still living there, he spent most of his service being the personal driver for some big shot general because he was the best, safest driver out of all the people at his base who were eligible to become official personal drivers. I’ve been in the car when he’s driving, oh my god do I try to avoid having him as a driver and will always offer to drive instead if I’m able (aka if the car is an automatic, as I don’t know how to drive manual), but he was somehow the best driver and chosen to be a personal driver for an army general? When he moved here, to australia (where our road safety laws and punishments are a LOT more heavily enforced and strict than in south korea) and started driving, for the first 2-3 years he was here he got speeding tickets frequently, enough that he actually lost his license for 6 months, because speeding 10-20km above the speed limit in south korea is no big deal and the police don’t really hand out fines or punish people for it if they get caught, but here in australia it’s a BIG deal to go even 5-10km over the speed limit, especially if you speed in a school zone, the fines are hundreds of dollars and demerit points on your licence (a standard licence here has 12 demerit points, that you either lose or gain depending on the state, but if you rack up enough demerit points as a result of road safety law violations, you lose your license for a period of time that is set by a judge). I was sceptical if most south korean drivers are really that bad, as was my sister (who he is married to), until my sister and brother in law went over to south korean together for the first time to visit his family and my sister found out first hand that the majority of south korean drivers, especially in cities, really ARE that bad compared to here in australia, and it’s not just how carelessly they drive, casually speeding and swerving in between traffic without indicating, but the road rage in big cities really is as bad as it’s portrayed in media
drivers in south korea really are that bad, my brother in law is born and raised south korean, when he did his mandatory military service while he was still living there, he spent most of his service being the personal driver for some big shot general because he was the best, safest driver out of all the people at his base who were eligible to become official personal drivers. I’ve been in the car when he’s driving, oh my god do I try to avoid having him as a driver and will always offer to drive instead if I’m able (aka if the car is an automatic, as I don’t know how to drive manual), but he was somehow the best driver and chosen to be a personal driver for an army general? When he moved here, to australia (where our road safety laws and punishments are a LOT more heavily enforced and strict than in south korea) and started driving, for the first 2-3 years he was here he got speeding tickets frequently, enough that he actually lost his license for 6 months, because speeding 10-20km above the speed limit in south korea is no big deal and the police don’t really hand out fines or punish people for it if they get caught, but here in australia it’s a BIG deal to go even 5-10km over the speed limit, especially if you speed in a school zone, the fines are hundreds of dollars and demerit points on your licence (a standard licence here has 12 demerit points, that you either lose or gain depending on the state, but if you rack up enough demerit points as a result of road safety law violations, you lose your license for a period of time that is set by a judge). I was sceptical if most south korean drivers are really that bad, as was my sister (who he is married to), until my sister and brother in law went over to south korean together for the first time to visit his family and my sister found out first hand that the majority of south korean drivers, especially in cities, really ARE that bad compared to here in australia, and it’s not just how carelessly they drive, casually speeding and swerving in between traffic without indicating, but the road rage in big cities really is as bad as it’s portrayed in media