Commercial transport in
Korea comes in three sizes. There is the container lorry with its
one or two full size (24,000 kilos) containers, half a block long,
spewing ever more pollution into the already soupy Pusan atmosphere.
Down one size there is the ubiquitous "Bongo" (Kia) or "Porter"
(Hyundai) flat bed 2 ton truck. This is the multipurpose carrier for
all the goods that a voracious Korean society consumes. Examples of
the diversity of goods carried: tankfuls of sea-water necessary to
keep the thriving raw fish restaurant trade going; a million pairs
of white cotton gloves for the bus and taxi drivers; house removals
- stacked high and reminiscent of circus acrobat pyramids.
The third carrier is the motor scooter. Anything and everything
considered too small to be carried on the trucks is transported on
the backs, sides, tops or even the fronts of these scooters.
Transporting large panes of glass? Use a "Bongo". Small panes of
glass? Use a scooter. Transporting ten cylinders of Propane gas? Use
the Bongo. One or two cylinders? Use a scooter. To see one of these
mobile missile launchers careering along a city center sidewalk
is quite unnerving!
So I watch with anticipation to see what the latest bizarre load
could be. The length or height of the load seems to pose no problem:
rolls of linoleum, so long that they hit the ground at every bounce
of the scooter. I’ve also seen bales of straw, which appeared to
move down the road of their own accord - the scooter being buried in
the middle, with just its rider’s head poking from their tops. For
most purposes, however, the carrying medium is a large plastic water
bottle crate, strapped onto the pillion of the machine. One
cherished sight was that of a second (dismembered) scooter being
transported in one of these.
The riders of these machines warrant a few comments. They are a
breed apart: usually young (but not always so) and possessing the
youthful Asian tendency to dice with death at every opportunity.
Unfortunately, with the very heavy traffic on the Pusan roads, such
deaths happen every day. The there only one general Korean road
rule: "Might is Right" and the scooter has no might! So the riders
rely on maneuverability. Their slalom turns and swerves are done at
no great speed, but with a frightening acceleration from rest, using
G-forces to remain stable. This macho handling of their machines is
partly the responsibility of the manufacturers. Due to consumer
pressure, they have designed their machines so that the seat slopes
upwards towards the rear so much that the rider is almost standing
up as he carries out his acrobatic maneuvers.
There are also fads in the personal customizing of their
machines. The sloped seat is built up even further with cushions, so
that the rider IS standing up. Another reason for him not being
seated is that here is also the place for that essential, the
"ghetto blaster" and fully integrated sound system. His whole body
then pulses and throbs to the atrocious techno beat music that young
Koreans are so fond of. The concept of sound pollution is
unheard of. Exotic horn systems are installed (even truck "cow"
horns). So the blast that terrifies you as youstroll along the
sidewalk is not that of a 40 ton truck - just another 175 cc Korean
scooter. The machine must be seen! The nearest Western analogy of
the additionally installed lighting is that of a Xmas tree draped
with its 48 fairy lights, winking in sequence. The bulbs on the
scooter are larger of course and the whole system is usually linked
to the direction indicators. The effect as the rider signals a turn
is quite mesmerizing!
All scooter riders possess a crash helmet - it is a legal
requirement. Most look like a Viking war helmet with tusks. But few
riders actually wear them. The helmet’s usual place is wrapped
around the handlebar, swinging upside down like a lucky mascot and
carrying its owner’s cigarettes and lighter. Alternatively it is
worn over one arm like a shield (for elbow protection?).
Incidentally, the other place for carrying cigarettes, as this part
of Korean society is almost 100% smoker, is to strap them to one
side of the petrol tank, like a rifle slung from the saddle in a
Western movie. There they are just as accessible on the move.
As for the road manners of the riders? They are little short of
criminal or insane, occasioned by a total lack of respect for
Korea’s road traffic laws. A rider can and does use any part of the
road or sidewalk in either direction: with the traffic flow; against
it; or at right angles to it. He will use the pedestrian crossing to
change sides of the road at the same time as the pedestrians, if he
feels that to be to his advantage. A favorite ploy of all Korean
motorists - fill that gap! This results in the rider crossing the
traffic lights set at red against him, ignoring pedestrian walk
signs and even the traffic police if he thinks he can get away with
it! Generally all of this is ignored by the police, so the only
effective regulator against this quite mad behavior is the "grim
reaper" himself, culling the less able or fortunate.
The rider often shares his transport with others - occasionally
several others (e.g. the whole family). If there is a size problem,
then the three or four riders grade themselves: tallest at the back,
smallest (and hence the youngest) at the front. So the youngest
(often a boy in his pre-teens) is the controller of the machine!
Such a threesome combined with a load of junk mail and you have a
very efficient delivery service. I’ve occasioned to see this
several times, where the youngest of the three guides the scooter
along the sidewalk, while the other two boys hurl the free
newspapers in the direction of the intended doorways.
Pride of place (of course) in the scooter riding fraternity must
be given to the pizza delivery boy. You can divide this species
(exclusively male) into two groups: the part-time students and the
professional full-time "drop-outs". The latter are distinguished by
their bizarre hair-styles, a total disregard for all other road or
footpath users and a maniacal desire to impress any and every
girl that crosses their route. The metal pizza container is placed
loose between their legs in the foot well of the scooter. This
renders the foot brake inoperable. Eventually these employees would
become bow-legged, but few survive much longer than a year. This
band of happy motoristshas the highest mortality and injury rate of
any social group in the world. Several times I have seen slalom
turns too enthusiastically conducted but with too little skill,
resulting in the swift deposition of the rider and the pizza box
into the road. It is up to fate whether that patch of road is also
occupied by other traffic. Usually the rider gets up again, dusts
himself down, picks up his scooter, which has suffered relatively
little additional damage, and replaces the container in its allotted
position. He then carries on to delivery his meal. What the state of
the received meal is I can only imagine. But the Koreans are a very
polite people usually and like a mixture of food,so long as it is
delivered on time!
So to all of you who have not yet experienced this Korean
motoring phenomenon, be grateful for the relative sanity of your own
country’s contingent of road users. I certainly will never again
moan about mine!
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