Seatbelts

One of my co-teachers studied in the United States for a few months, so I asked her what she thought the strangest thing was. She quickly said she didn’t understand why people in the back seat wear  seatbelts. Since I asked her opinion I decided not to go on a diatribe about how seatbelts save lives.

Seatbelts are neither a legal matter nor popular in Korea. Babies sit on laps or crawl around the car as they please. Once I saw a car seat in the front; it was facing forward and the baby wasn’t strapped in. I’ve been in many cars where I fished the seatbelt out of the seat. Often in taxi’s they block the use of seatbelts by sealing the buckle with tape or tying back the belt. It’s one thing to choose not to wear a seatbelt, but to inhibit the use is mind boggling. Seatbelt use has been so ingrained in me that I feel really insecure when I’m not wearing one. 

There are arguments, particularly from those raised prior to “click it or ticket”, that seat belts should be a personal choice and that the government is infringing on individual rights to self determine how important safety is. It's a reasonable concern whenever government is suspected of going too far, but it also seems that it would have taken a long time to convince most people to wear seatbelts without a legal incentive. As a fully indoctrinated seatbelt wearer, I just can’t muster up the energy to protest this overstep of government authority. Perhaps this complacency paves the way for further government infringement on individual affairs, but what can I say? I like seatbelts, so I comfort myself with the belief that seatbelts are a public health issue and that auto accident fatalities are expensive.

I also found a few interesting statistics. According to the US Department of Transportation on p 142 of a report, the United States had 33,808 auto fatalities in 2009. Whereas the Education Institute of Transportation in Korea listed 342,233 fatalities in 2005 on p 2 of a report. Considering that Korea has a much smaller population, these numbers show a lot. There are many ways that I could illustrate with numbers, such as crashes per 100,000 people, percent of crashes with fatalities, percentage of fatalities wearing seatbelts, etc but I’m only a casual blogger. In short, wear your seatbelt! 

Taxis

Second in the roadway hierarchy are taxis. Taxis are more aggressive and agile than a bus, but they rank second due to size. When I first came to Korea, I tried to avoid riding in taxis as often as possible. Initially when forced to catch a cab I would spend the entire ride clutching the seat while intently watching the traffic.

Eventually I became desensitized to the perils of riding in a taxi. I reasoned that taxis were a prime opportunity to accept situations beyond my control. Once I made a decision to get in a taxi, almost nothing else was in my control. I couldn’t control poor driving by the cabbie or the fellow motorists so I would actively try to remain calm even while the occasional driver watched TV in his car instead of looking at the road. 

Taxis are abundant and affordable on Jeju. If you’re going somewhere within 15 minutes with one or two friends it is often cheaper and definitely more convenient to share a cab than to take a bus. A 50 minute taxi ride over the mountain and across the island is the equivalent of $30. This makes for a reasonable night out when you’re sharing the cab and the bill with your favorite dancing buddies.