… do whatever the fuck you want. oh, i see.
seriously, traffic in s. korea (busan in particular) is fuckin’ crazy. i don’t see how i don’t spot more accidents or deaths here. red lights seem to serve as merely a suggestion in this place.
the only people that obey the traffic signals are the pedestrians. if the man is red at a cross walk, no one will cross, even with no traffic in sight, even on the smallest of roads, even in the still of night. i find it pretty hilarious, but not really, and quite frankly, i don’t comply.
as they say: when in rome, do as the americans.
another thing about traffic here is the excessive use of the vehicular horn. everyone uses it for even the smallest of inconvenience. here are some examples:
car slows down to read a street sign – HONK!
car eases up on the gas to make a turn – HONK!
car has a flat tire – HONK! HONK! HONK! … (from every car that passes)
i have actually seen someone, clearly experiencing car trouble, and every one that passed by just had to let the poor fella know: “hey, i don’t give a shit about your misfortunes. i just want you to know that i am upset at you now.” HONK!
hilarious, but not really.
just yesterday i witnessed a fire truck, lights-a-blazin’ and sirens-a-wailin’, wait on traffic before it could make a u-turn. yes, the oncoming traffic completely disregarded the big red truck trying to make a u-turn on its way to possibly save some one’s life.
hilarious, but not really.
oh, to top it off. once the truck reached its destination, the bus driver of the bus that i was on while examining this whole ordeal, honked at the fire truck for stopping in front of him. at the scene of a burning building, mind you.
it was pretty obvious that the fire engine had reached its destination, but the bus driver just had to make it clear how he felt. and i’m sure his thoughts went a little something like this: “oh, i see that you are stopping to go put out that fire over there. i respect your job and everything that you do for us. you are all very brave and bold individuals. but, since you just had to stop right in front of me, i must let you know that i am slightly upset now.” HONK!
hilarious… but not really.