Driving in South Korea (3) - City driving

As I have explained here, for me, intersections are the biggest headache when it comes to driving in Korea. But there are quite a few other things that can be confusing when you start driving here.

Roundabouts:

There are far fewer of them here than in France (and that's surely a good thing) and they are generally much smaller than our big traffic circles. Like in Europe, the rule is that traffic already in a roundabout has priority over the cars waiting to enter it. Looks like a piece of cake, right? Unfortunately, in practice, most Korean drivers do the opposite: a car in the roundabout will give way to one coming from the right. At least, this is what I have ofen observed, but not always. So you have to play it by ear, once again, and be very vigilant.

It seems to me that the unspoken rule is that each driver in a roundabout will give way to  ONE car coming from his/her right . So in the picture below, the grey car (on the left) will yield to the white car, then I will yield to the grey car, and then enter the roundabout  (even if another car is coming from my left).

 That's what I have figured out, but I may be wrong...

Lane changes

Unlike roundabouts, lane changing is VERY common in Korean cities.

Generally speaking, it is quite difficult to know which lane to get into. Let's say you are in a four-lane street, you may suddenly realize that one, two or three of the left lanes are turning left. And the information is often given very late, so you have very little time to change lanes if you want to go straight ahead. And don't expect other drivers to make it easy for you.

It can also happen that your lane suddenly becomes a bus lane. Again, you need to change lanes as soon as possible.

버스 전용 = bus only

Looking at the road markings is a good way to figure out whether you are in the right lane or not. The problem is that other vehicles often hide these road markings, and I don't know where else to find the information that I want.

That said, you're not always sure you have to change lanes. Sometimes, when you are in the right or left lane, you can make a turn OR go straight ahead. Sometimes you can ONLY make a turn. Again, I don't know how other drivers get the information, for me it's often a surprise.

Speaking of road markings, you should know that a big arrow with a cross on it means that it is forbidden to go in that direction. It can be a little confusing (personally I tend to see the arrow more than the cross, but that's just me).

No right turn

No left turn

Also, be prepared to have to change several lanes in a very short time. That's something even locals tend to complain about. It is common, for example, to enter a main road on the right side and to have to turn left 500 ft further on, which means having to change four lanes in no time. Knowing that other drivers will probably not help, it may simply not be possible, especially during rush hour. In this case, I usually give up and let my GPS calculate another route.

Here is an example of a place where I drive quite often. I enter this road on the right and I need to change four lanes to get behind this car waiting to make a U-turn on the left. No problem when there's no one around, like here, but at rush hour it's a totally different ballgame.
 

Lane changes are made even more frequent in the city by the fact that a lot of vehicles are double-parked . I'll get back to parking problems later on this blog.

All the cars on the right and the second one on the left are actually  "parked".

Finally, it is important to know that on some main roads, one or more middle lanes may change direction depending on the time of day (i.e. depending on whether people are going to or coming back from work). You need to pay attention to the traffic lights and signs, or simply avoid these lanes (which I do when possible).

가변시 진입가능 = traffic in this lane is allowed between 5 and 8 p.m. if the light is green.

A few other remarks on driving in the city :

As I have already mentioned here, delivery people on scooters rarely obey traffic lights, or most other rules for that matter. So you can expect to see one of them pop up in front of your car at any time. Apart from this particular case, red lights seem to be generally followed. However, many drivers do go through orange lights. So when your light turns green, make sure no one is coming from the left or the right before you go.
Speaking of which, if you're walking, you may see messages on the sidewalks asking you look out for vehicles and wait a little before crossing when your light turns green. And be aware that the light turns green for cars the second it turns red for pedestrians. So make sure you have enough time before you start crossing a street.

신호가 바뀌어도 잠시 기다려주세요 =  when the light turns green, wait a little  before crossing.

One last piece of advice about driving in the city: if possible, avoid alleys and stay on the main roads. In small streets, passing vehicles coming the other way can be tricky because these streets are  narrow and many cars are parked on each side. Plus there are no sidewalks, so pedestrians walk on the road, which does not help.

To top it all off, you may find yourself behind somebody pulling some kind of cart, or blocked by some object in the middle of the road.  This next picture was taken one day when my GPS let me down and I ended up in a kind of busy market, behind a delivery truck that stopped every 100 feet, with pedestrians and boxes in the middle of the road. Not dangerous, but uncomfortable, so I'd rather not have to drive there.

Speaking of GPS, this , as well as some remarks on driving out of town, will be the topic of my next post. Yes, I have more to say about the idiosyncrasies of driving on Korea!