Korea is what you might call a nouveau riche country (pardon my French). It's only been in the last 50 years or so that wealth has come here, and automobiles with it. Finally, the common man (and common woman) is able to afford a family size, family style motor vehicle.
Unfortunately, traffic laws are somewhat different here. A few of the ones to whet your appetite:
If you are caught at a red light, you must wait three rotations before you can go. Traffic does not flow North/South and East/West at the same time. Instead, northbound traffic gets a turning light and may go straight. It then goes clockwise around the intersection. Same thing for a pedestrian - only once every four lights can you cross.
And you want to wait for those lights before you do. Pedestrians do not have the right of way. Perhaps they do on paper (I'm not really sure) but they certainly don't in practice. In a way, it's refreshing. Jaywalking? People don't stop five blocks back for you. Instead, you stand on the yellow line in the middle of the road as traffic zips by you in both directions until there's a clear spot.
Emergency vehicles do not have the right of way, or if they do they have the same rules as pedestrians - wait for a clear spot and go fast.
Many other rules that Canadians would consider strict (such as stopping when the light is red, not blaring your horn as you zip through ten seconds later) are a little less strict here. Less like laws and more like...guidelines.
I figured out exactly how much like guidelines they were when driving in Jeju. Stop at a minor intersection's red light? Get honked at as people blow by you.
Going 50 km in a 30 km/h zone? Get blown by as people do upwards of 70 km/h.
Stopping for pedestrians? See above.
In order to (genuinely) drive more safely, I began to obey the guidelines. Minor red lights were suggestions. Pedestrians were just friends you hadn't met. Speed limits were possibilities.
Except for the posted speed cameras. Korea has photo-radar equivalent equipment posted on the highways and in cities. They've got signs warning you about it. Photo Police Enforcement - 350 meters. 250 meters. 100 meters. It'll only check your speed as you go under it, and you can see it a kilometer back and even if you couldn't, everyone else is laying on their brakes. So you go from 100 down to 50, under the camera and back again.
It was actually quite fun.
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