Driving in South Korea (4) - Driving out of town

I remember reading somewhere that speed limitations in Korea were "ridiculously low", which I think is true, at least out of town. In the city, the speed limit is usually 50km/h (around 30mph), sometimes 30 (20mph), and up to 70 (45mph) on the main roads. Nothing very unusual. On major roads outside of town, like highways and expressways, the limit is often 80 km/h (50mph), up to 100 km/h (60mph) on freeways.

In the city and, especially, on the highways, most Korean drivers drive above the limit. For my part, I try to comply with it, but sometimes I choose to stay with the pack. Like in that one place in Yangsan where nobody respects the 50 km/h speed limit (on a two-lane ramp), and I think it would be dangerous to be the only one to do so. 

Many Korean roads are quite similar to the American highways. On these multi-lane roads, the speed limit is 80km/h and there may be intersections with traffic lights. Watch out for speed cameras. There are a lot of them, and they often look like this:

 

About freeways, as I said before, I must admit that it is difficult to stick to 100km/h when you are used to higher limitations, but I do my best. Many Korean drivers exceed the limit and slow down only when there are speed cameras. While some drive "reasonably" over the limit (110-115 km/h), others mistake the freeway for a German autobahn and slam on the brakes when they get to a speed camera, before hitting the gas again. So expect sudden slowdowns.
Speed cameras are indicated by warning signs. If you have a GPS, you'll get a notification, and it will warn you if you are over the limit.

On the freeways, some speed cameras are pretty cute

Sometimes there are also "average speed sections". Again, your GPS will probably let you know if your average speed is above the limit. In short, we haven't received any ticket in the mail so far.  

You should also know that there is a minimum speed limit of 50 km/h on freeways, as indicated by this sign :

Finally, you may frequently see dummy  police cars on the side of the road, whose purpose is, I think, simply to make motorists slow down. That said, I've already seen a real police car hidden behind the dummy (I don't know if they control speed, or something else).

A few other rules unrelated to speed :   

Motorcycles are not allowed on highways, expressways, and freeways, no matter how powerful they may be. They're only allowed on smaller roads.

Changing lanes is generally forbidden on bridges and in tunnels, as indicated by the solid line, which does not prevent some drivers from crossing it though. Tunnels are very common in Korea. To get an idea of what driving in Korean tunnels is like (on a lucky day when traffic is very fluid), take a look at this:

 

When driving on the freeway, you may be faced with another thorny question : is it okay to pass other vehicles on the right? Unlike in France, where it is strictly prohibited, in the United States, there seems to be a "tolerance" in some states, but I am never sure what the law says. I have the same problem in Korea. Here, I often see vehicles passing others on the right, but I don't know if it's allowed, and no one has been able to give me a clear answer when I asked. However if  the information given on this site is to be believed , it seems that you should pass slower vehicles on the left only.  Personally, I avoid passing on the right, but I may make an exception when there's a slow vehicle in the left lane, and cars are hurtling behind me at full speed.

Just a sidenote: as you can see in this table, Koreans identify the lanes by counting them from the left. On a 3-lane road, the first lane is the left lane and the third lane is the right lane. It took some getting used to, when Her told me to "take the third lane", I never knew which one she was talking about, but I'm getting used to it.


Toll Roads: Tolls in Korea are quite cheap (Yay!)  But you still have to pay a little (3000KRW, or about $2, for a 20-mile trip from Busan to Yangsan trip, for example).

There is a wireless toll payment system called "HiPass". In order to use it, you need to open an account and buy a transponder.

When you are an expat in Korea, HiPass is absolutely indispensable. Without it, you may be asked to communicate or even fill out forms in Korean. True, it's a good way to practice, but you don't always have the time, and neither do the people honking behind you.  And if it happens that one day your transponder doesn't work, no problem, you can still go through the toll gate (there is no barrier) and you will receive a bill (with no extra charge) in the mail a few days later. Of course, you can pay this bill by internet.

Hipass lanes are usually indicated in blue on the left side of the toll gate. There may also be orange lanes, which are for both HiPass and non-HiPass drivers. At some newer toll gates, HiPass holders hardly need to slow down, as their HiPass terminal is automaticall detected.

 Sailing through the toll gate at 80km/h

What should you do when you don't have a HiPass terminal? One day when we had rented a car, we had to use the good old ticket machine, but unfortunately it didn't work. A sign (in Korean) said we could enter without a ticket. When we arrived at the exit gate, we explained that we didn't have a ticket, the toll collector made a phone call, our entrance gate was checked using our license plate (thank you, CCTV!) and we were able to pay, but it took several minutes. I think we also had to fill out a paper with our contact information, in case the amount was not correct.

Something similar happened to us at the exit of the Gwangan Bridge in Busan: we didn't have a Hipass account yet, and it turned out only some credit cards are accepted. Of course, ours was not, so we had to pay in cash. If we hadn't had cash, we would have been asked to fill in a form with our contact information and they would have sent us a bill.

In short, paying the toll can be extremely simple (with HiPass), or incredibly complicated (without HiPass). When you hardly speak Korean, like me, HiPass is vital!

The other necessary device to drive in Korea, which I have mentioned several times, is of course a GPS. Then you'll be good to go! Unfortunately, this post is getting a little long. But I promise I'll write about the most Korea-compatible GPS as soon as the testing phase is completed.