Can you imagine how strong the smell of kimchi is in that thing?
ChickenHead
11 years ago
“Can you imagine how strong the smell of kimchi is in that thing?”
Don’t stray lithium ions bond to the free sulfur receptors in kimcheeonium?
Anyway, this is EXACTLY what many city-dwelling commuters should be driving to work in every morning. Of course, there would need to be some changes in infrastructure or driving habits to keep the odds balanced for SUV vs. Tiny Electric Deathtrap.
JoeC
11 years ago
What’s so special about a scooter tricycle in a shell?
Get an electric golf cart. They have greater carrying capacity.
ChickenHead
11 years ago
“What’s so special about a scooter tricycle in a shell?”
Parking?
But the shell is the whole point… the evolution of transportation. The seemingly-obvious solution of a shell solves many of the problems of a scooter tricycle.
A scooter is a very efficient method of transportation for a single person going a relatively short distance… such as the resource-intensive but undemanding daily commute to and from work.
The shell removes many of the disadvantages of scooters by offering protection from the environment, protection in minor accidents, and increased visibilty.
Further, these can be made cheaply enough that it is not unreasonable for most families to own one… as many families have one member who commutes alone to work. Society is not set up to end the family car model for many activities… so this is an accessory rather than a replacement… and a very reasonable but useful step away from using gas-guzzling full-size cars with a one-tool-fits-all mentality.
Also, unlike a full-size electric car, or even a golf cart, the electrical infrastructure can support more widespread scooter-sized transportation which requires much less energy. Further, micro-scale wind generation on houses and apartments, even in the city, could supply much of the required energy.
This technology, as simple as it seems, should be encouraged technically, legally, and socially.
Setnaffa
11 years ago
Think about carrying groceries to and from the emart. Not practical for families; but it does fit the pajamaboy/metrosexual image they’re trying to encourage. That car, if it catches on with young Korean males, could single – handedly improve the dating life of every waygook in Korea
Walking down a sidewalk in Korea’s about to get a little more dangerous.
ChickenHead
11 years ago
Setnaffa,
“Think about carrying groceries to and from the emart.”
Do you carry many groceries TO “the emart”?
Anyway, as stated, “Society is not set up to end the family car model for many activities”. For shopping, long-distance travel, and group activities, a “standard car” is currently the appropriate tool for the job.
But much of the transportation in Korean cities is done by a single person going a relatively short distance without cargo. Changing the transportation paradigm is a huge benefit for Korea, from less economic drain for foreign oil purchases to reductions in air pollution (or “carbon emission” for those who fret about the possibility of climate change over the reality of dirty air).
There is also the possibility of a slightly larger version that could seat two people in-line or offer a cargo space large enough for some groceries.
Another advantage of this electric technology is the ease of which they can be networked to communicate with each other. This could standardize their speed for better traffic flow, assist in collision avoidance… and make Korean driving much more orderly.
“if it catches on with young Korean males, could single – handedly improve the dating life of every waygook in Korea”
Doubtful… as most of English teachers don’t even have cars… and, if they are marketed to be attractive you young Korean males, they will also have to be attractive to young Korean females.
Consider the level of personalization for every “user experience” these days… from social meetings where everybody is sitting around their table on their smartphone to people in public places all listening to their own music. Personalized transportation, where family members all have their own mostly-automated vehicles with networked communication is not an unreasonable view of the future.
Everybody says these are great for cities, and that is probably true; except there are still ‘terminator’ trucks running red lights on a regular basis in Seoul and other large Korean cities.
William
11 years ago
Doesn’t anyone miss the old days where a Korean dude stacked 150,000 things at least 35 ft to the high heavens and drove his 50 cc motorcycle dead through the busiest jam packed alleys crowded with people and rarely spilled his cargo?
Liz
11 years ago
That little thing is awesome! They should call it a Weeeness.
ChickenHead
11 years ago
LIMERICK
Liz thinks it should be a Weeness,
and when driving, if anyone’s seen us,
we might get a berating;
accused of compensating
for fuel costs (rather than peenis).
If I added “Maybe a bicycle would solve the problem?” would that make me one of those annoying bicycle advocates? 😉
Liz
11 years ago
Hee hee hee!
🙂
ChickenHead
11 years ago
BICYCLE
“would that make me one of those annoying bicycle advocates?”
Sadly, yes.
As a rule, bicycle riders are fantastically irritating and dangerous… with bicycle riders in America intentionally being azzholes because they feel entitled… and bicycle riders in Korea unintentionally being azzholes because they are foolish and ignorant… which results in an involuntary smile every time I hear of one dying a tragic death… which, after investigation, is almost never less than 50% the fault of the bicyclist… and is generally closer to 100%.
We can discuss the nuances of American bicyclists’ attitude another time…
…but here is what I observe in Korea.
Black bicycles… black Spandex… riding at night… tiny blinking LED taillight that serve as perfect camouflage amid all the other blinking LEDs found everywhere… riding on the busiest street available instead of a side street… holding up a line of traffic gingerly going around them by moving halfway into the next lane; which slows down the cars in that lane that have to move over as well… making every right turn off a main street an exercise in fear as they come speeding from nowhere to a place no one should be in a lane that does not exist… pretending to be a dangerously low-speed car when it is convenient for them… pretending to be a dangerously high-speed pedestrian when it is convenient for them… selective following of traffic rules that put a drunk taxi driver to shame… in conversation, a bizarre and unexplainable mindset in even the most book-smart that sees no danger in all this (as they point to their blinking LED as if it some sort of magic shield)… and, of course, in the countryside, lollygagging a quarter of the way into the middle of the most curvy country mountain road at 10kph oblivious to the continuous flow of cars coming around the corner and mashing on the brakes (even though there is an amazing dedicated bike path one valley over).
In high school, my friend’s father hit and killed a bicyclist who was riding slowly at night in dark clothes in the middle of a dark street… and, apart from no criminal charges, he was able to sue the estate for the repair of his car… as it should be.
In Korea, the smaller vehicle or most injured party has typically been “right”… though that is changing… so every time some hard-working guy driving safely at the posted speed and following the law killed some careless piece of shyt riding his bicycle foolishly, illegally, and against all possibilities of common sense, the car driver’s life was over… as his dreams of apartment ownership and educated children were crushed to pay off the family of the bicyclist who was obviously too stupid to reproduce.
MTB Rider, that is how I see it… but, as an experienced bicyclist in Korea, you may have insight that I do not. You may have a rational explanation for these behaviors which I have not yet grasped.
Kindly explain to us what the heck is going on.
Setnaffa
11 years ago
CH, you may have missed something you wrote about. Parking. How many families have room for two vehicles in their apartment parking lot?
And as to the girls liking the guys that drive ’em, well, you might be right. But they will be 3-wheeled coffins in the land of soju and dump trucks. Folks forget how dangerous thos things can be. How unsafe. Remember USPS had 3-wheeled delivery vehicles until they started having to pay to repait them and hospitalize their drivers?
Setnaffa
11 years ago
*those
Setnaffa
11 years ago
BTW, i am not 100 percent sure but it looks like the guy in the driver’s seat is suffering a panic attack…
ChickenHead
11 years ago
Setnaffa,
In theory, families that now have two full-size cars parked in the apartment parking lot will only need one. Many families have more than two… as Dad, Mom, and university-age children all have cars. Grandma and Grandpa might also have one.
These things can be fantastically unsafe… but part of the infrastructure and transportation paradigm change is more reliance on sensory processing and networked automation to avoid accidents and increase the flow of traffic.
Currently, America is on the brink of self-driving cars… CARS THAT DRIVE THEMSELVES!
They have been successfully tested and will be available to the consumer next year. Can you believe it? A car that can recognize all of the variables of a roadway and make correct decisions? Give it a weapon and who knows what it can do.
With networking, self-driving tricycles working together is a much easier project.
All right, by the numbers, CH:
Black Lycra: I can’t stand it myself, especially at night! Seriously, you’re not the bike ninja, wear white or reflective material. Not many manufacturers make bike jerseys or shorts with built-in reflective material, although my friend Jason is trying to change this by developing a line of jerseys with reflective material on the back, chest, sleeves and at the knees. It’s good stuff, I wear it and recommend it.
I only have three jerseys that are black. One is my mountain bike racing club’s jersey, only worn during closed course races, one is a second club’s jersey which I only got when I joined, and the third is a heavy/warm jersey I wear under my regular jersey and usually a jacket. Most of my shorts are black, because black goes with everything. And most of my shorts have some reflective material on the sides and back, to create a moving, eye catching reflection.
To me, it’s a Korean thing, where tanned skin=farm worker. Koreans want to be seen as intellectuals, or at least office workers, and work hard to maintain that indoor lighting pallor. When I do ride all night, I wear one of those road worker vests. Huge reflective stripes, and big pockets for your sandwiches. I rarely ride at night, although I have ridden from Uijeongbu to Sokcho twice, and from Wanju to Gwangju as well as Seoul to Gwangju. The last two were 24 hour rides, of over 375km.
Tiny Blinking LEDs. What do you suggest? That’s the lights the stores sell. I set mine to random, eye catching blinker so an approaching driver is more likely to see me. I also ride with fresh lithium batteries, so they are at their brightest. I wear multiple lights: on my bike, backpack, and helmet. If you run over a Christmas tree, it’s your fault. Six individual lights in the bike blinker, four on the backpack, six on the helmet, all blinking at different, eye catching rates. The headlight is 6 bright white LEDs, about as bright as a good flashlight.
Busy Streets: I avoid those if at all possible. I once rode down Hwy 43 near Pocheon. Never again. It was also the only place I have ever been hit by a car, when a little Damas microvan passed me, then immediately made a blinkerless right turn directly in front of me. I was expecting him to do something dumb ass (I saw him on his phone just as he passed me, so I was already on the brakes just in case), and right on cue he cut me off and I hit the side of his van. Luckily, we were both doing about 10kph. I also almost got creamed by a lady making a sudden, blinkerless left turn in front of me into a parking lot and passing behind me close enough to touch my back tire. Not sure if she was on the phone or not, but this WAS a lesser used road.
Roads: This is a design problem in places. Here in New Mexico, most roads have shoulders at least 4 feet wide, and usually a bit more. In Korea, the roads don’t always have the shoulder, and the shoulder can be dangerous due to road debris. The right tire track is usually the safest, if traffic is light. Cars can pass you, and they are not tempted to try to squeeze around you, leading to getting clipped by a mirror.
Traffic: I can keep up, and often am able to pass cars. Not a hindrance. I average about 30kph, which is about what Seoul traffic averages as well.
Right turns: Not sure what you mean. I take the lane, in my lane, like any other vehicle, and at speed. I’m usually in the right tire track of the right most lane.
Selective traffic obedience: Are you kidding me? This is (was) Korea! Anyways, I admit I do run reds, just like every Korean in the country. I slow to make sure there is no cross traffic approaching, then if the way is clear, pedal on. A bike accelerates slower from a standing start than a car, but can accelerate at nearly the same speeds if already moving. If the lights were on a Smart Light system instead of a timer, people would be able to get around a lot more smoothly, but when you hit five lights in a row all timed to make you stop for each and every one, it does get irritating. This applies to cars as well as bikes.
Problems I face are people with zero situational awareness, pedestrians walking in the bike lanes because they are “nicer,” and old folks walking directly across the path with nary a glance to the left or right. I have to be careful all the time as a Caucasian because any accident I may be involved in is automatically my (the round eye’s) fault. A friend of mine was riding on the Han River Path when an old guy rolled his bike through the yield sign and well marked heavy white stripe and t-boned her, knocking her off her bike, and breaking her cheekbone. It cost HER $700 for the damages to his bike (worth maybe $50 in a good light). Why? Old Korean guy and Korean cop. No translator.
Bikes do have the right to use public roads, with the exception of the “Interstates.” When I ride, I look for the old frontage roads or other lesser used roads, and look for hills that have room for cars to get around me without causing accidents.
ChickenHead
11 years ago
MTB RIder, thank you for your thoughtful reply.
Sadly, the vast majority of bicyclists do not match your standards of responsibility for personal safety or consideration for other travelers.
Some follow-ups comments…
“Right turns: Not sure what you mean.”
Bikes don’t like to slow down. Even when bikes exercise their “right” to be treated like a car and “take the lane”, they will illegally pass on the right if given the chance. Slowing down to make a right turn with a signal sometimes encourages a bicyclist to speed up in hopes of beating the car to the right turn… or perhaps the bicyclist has some idea that it is his “right” to have the right-of-way and the car must wait. This becomes a problem when, as you mentioned, the turning car uses no signal. That is illegal and a mistake on the part of the driver… but not accident-causing to a trailing vehicle which follows traffic rules.
A following car, unable to pass on the right, simply slows down. Most motorcyclists do as well. A bicyclist “untakes” the lane, abandoning their “right” to be treated like a car, and illegally passes on the right in cases where they don’t see the signal-less right turn coming. This doesn’t excuse the driver for not using their signal… but two wrongs don’t make a right… so the bicyclist’s inevitable whining about “but there was no signal” is meaningless… and both should be responsible for their own damages and injuries.
Further, a fast bicyclist coming from far away on a crowded sidewalk cannot always be seen by a driver making a right turn with a limited view of predictable pedestrians… and the bicyclist sometimes does not see the car… or claims it is his “right” to fly through the crosswalk at near-traffic speed rather than pedestrian speed.
There is one place I frequently make a right turn off a main street directly in front of a bus stop where up to three buses might be blocking any view of the sidewalk. Though I can safely interact with slow pedestrians, waiting for them to cross or completing my turn before they reach the crosswalk, sometimes fast-moving bicyclists come from behind the buses and fly through the crosswalk with no concern. I have seen several near-misses with cars coming out of that sidestreet to make a right turn… as, due to a wall and some plants, they are unable to see far up the sidewalk until they pull into the crosswalk.
My complaint is that the vast majority of bicyclists have no concern for society… always talking about their “rights” and never talking about their responsibilities.
The reality is that pedestrian infrastructure is designed for things moving at a walking speed and roadway infrastructure is designed for things moving at driving speed… and the places where these two areas meet are not designed for much variation without additional caution on the part of the person using them in a different way.
While bicyclists may certainly navigate both of these environments successfully, they must understand that neither was designed for their use and they must take extra caution and responsibility for their actions compared to those who are predictably using these areas as they were designed… instead of the normal attitude which ALWAYS gets the word “rights” worked into the conversation (yes, even you did it).
Bike paths on sidewalks or bike lanes on the far right are not real solutions and have, unfortunately, added to the sense of smug entitlement that so many bicyclists have when they start going on about their “rights”.
LEDs: “Tiny Blinking LEDs. What do you suggest? That’s the lights the stores sell.”
Uhhh… if all the store sold was garden hoses, would you still go skydiving? The burden of responsibility and safety is upon the bicyclist and not the Chinese factory churning out whatever 70s-era 3-LEDs-on-a-PCB crap they can make the cheapest and put in a go-faster chrome-plated case to pawn off on gullible bicyclists who, it seems, will buy anything.
Blinking LEDs are noticeable on stationary objects but blend in very well on a moving object in an environment filled with moving and blinking lights. A combination of blinking and continuous light is superior, but not the complete answer. While cars and motorcycles have large tail lights with a legally-mandated surface area, bicycles’ LEDs are simply bright point sources with most of their output focused directly to the back. Headlights are the same. Point sources have very different visibility characteristics even when the light output is technically the same.
I would propose that bicycles traveling at night with their “right to use public roads” should be required to have a glowing red panel with a standard minimum surface area like any other vehicle with a right to use public roads. They should further be required to have yellow lights on the sides that function as running lights and turn signals.
A quick check just now showed me you are right, though. Bicycle lighting products are fantastically underdeveloped… mostly all the exact same system of several high-brightness LEDs packed into different cases. I think I can make something much better.
How about this: when (if?) you come back to Korea, I will manufacture what I believe to be a superior system with better visibility. I will give you one. You can test it. You can compile your thoughts and experience, as well as the comments of others. After a design cycle or two, the problem will be solved. One of the features I would add on a tail light are white LEDs facing FORWARD. This illuminates the bicycle and rider. I saw a guy with flashlights mounted on the back wheel that made him really visible at night. Whatdoyathink?
Anyway…
The equal “right” to use public roads, just like cars and motorcycles, requires equal responsibility… which is a statement that has started an argument with every bicyclist I have ever said it to… an argument filled with emotion and rationalization and excuses… but no real content on the bicyclists’ part.
In any action, there is a requirement for some degree of personal responsibility. Substandard visibility, in both clothing and lighting, is neglect of that responsibility. While you may take this somewhat seriously, the vast majority of bicyclists do not…
Ah, now I see what you mean. Where there are bike lanes, they are usually on the right most lane, where bikes can pass slower cars approaching a light, and the door zone. So bikes have cars not expecting them on one side, and drivers opening doors without checking their mirrors first on the other. Annoying to drivers, dangerous for riders. It also surprised me that Korea allows and in many places requires bicycles to use the sidewalks as bike lanes. This is not safe for anyone, riders, pedestrians or cars taking right turns.The river trails up Uijeongbu and Dongducheon are much safer, as no cars. Unfortunately, the Han River Trail is very crowded and dangerous except during the coldest days of winter. I hate riding into town.
“If a store only sold garden hoses would I still go skydiving?” I don’t know how to answer that, so: If you had the choice to funk the hottest tranny in South Korea or Tom’s Mom, would you ride a fish wearing a purple hat? Same type of non-sequitur, i guess.Your coice if either you or the fish wears the hat.
As for your lighted panel for seeing riders, check my friend’s website: http:www.XKGear.com. Very few jersey company makes reflective bike jerseys, although at least one in South Korea were just beginning to offer a few with some reflectives built in when I left. Jason Knight developed a jersey with a large, highly reflective logo meant to make bikes easier to see. Back, chest, shoulder to elbows and knees. This provides a solid reflective surface in addition to blinking lights. Instead of inventing a large lighted panel, maybe consider helping him get his jerseys to market? Or help him improve the design?
These jerseys are much more reflective than the standard issue Army Belt, and we all know how many lives those save yearly. 😉 Or at least the Army claims that any accident where the victim wasn’t wearing one would have been prevented if only the belt had been worn.
The “right” to use the roads is part of Federal Law in the States, and is (or should be) in Korean Road Use law. Car drivers are the ones that are far more likely to act like and demand that bikes stay off the roads, as only cars are entitled to use the roads on the “My taxes paid for this!” philosophy. Yeah, and I don’t pay taxes? I assure you I do.
I also assure you most cyclists can be very critical of other riders who hog the road or otherwise ride dangerously. My basic philosophy is that the car is much bigger and heavier. +1500kg vs my 90kg total. My goal is to avoid the cars as much as possible.
ChickenHead
11 years ago
MTB Rider,
Oh dear. OhdearOhdearOhdear.
Please guide your friend in the right direction.
Let me count the ways.
– website that takes ages to load because…
– loud autoplay music (and video) which is very poor website manner and just angers everyone as they hurriedly pull up the volume control to click the mute checkbox as everyone else in the room stares in irritation.
– and there are many links to a vast array of outside servers… possibly to include every widget ever made?
– stylish late-90s web format with clunky early 2000s animated tab and fade design… with all pictures and text in arbitrary places and sizes… hinting that it was all hand-coded in text HTML instead of using an editor. Perhaps the designer was suffering from a stroke. The convoluted picture that is actually making the sale pitch is so big it requires a scroll to see it in full… or a monitor with a resolution that will hit the consumer market some time around 2020. (HD is 1080 pixels high and the most important picture on the website, the one with all the sales information trying to make a good impression, is 1128 pixels high).
– an exciting blog that gets updated every 2 to 6 weeks with pictures that claim to be food but truly appear to be hillbilly vomit. I’m looking at you, black bean burger. I encourage everyone to check this out… as you will laugh and gag at the same time… and it will certainly help you diet… at least if bulimia is your diet strategy.
– All the pictures of pretty women on the homepage are shamelessly stolen directly from The Venus Factor website. They are a women’s exercise company. They probably would frown on another exercise company claiming that their imaginary stock clip art women are the same imaginary stock clip art women they paid to represent their company.
xxtp://venusfactorworkouts.com/ (replace the ‘xx’ with ‘ht’… did this to avoid link limits and spam trap)
– no clear information on the homepage as to the exact nature of what is being peddled… it appeared to be some kind of exercise class. I had to dig around looking for where the classes actually are located… until realizing on a convoluted subpage that they are online. This convoluted subpage is titled ‘start here’ and is the very last clickable thing on the homepage. The stroke victim who designed this also had dyslexia, it seems.
– two of the three instructors that are presumably selling some kind of service didn’t bother to put any information about themselves or their qualifications… or write a paragraph to explain exactly what they did. I’m suspicious of a lady that thick guiding me through exercise… unless it is unlimited power squats.
– the one instructor who offers 5-15 minute on-line meditation sessions did write a vague paragraph… but included a photo that looks like the only thing she does is climb out of bed without brushing her hair and meditating herself into a tub of Baskin-Robbins while looking guilty about it.
– please tell me this was written by a non-English speaker. It’s like Konglish but not Konglish. The ‘store’ selling the reflective clothing has writing that is composed of misspelled oddly-conceptualized cliche-driven non-sentences. It starts out, “If you the kind of person who likes to have total control of your life and want to be seen at dusk, dawn, or at night in highly reflective gear.” Period. That’s it. Conditional sentences (if-then) without consequences are… are… are… confusing. It kind of goes slowly downhill from there.
I’m sure I could find more to pick at if I spent some time on it. If this guy is your friend, please, please, please, help him get his website in order. I can’t imagine anyone would send any money to this website that appears to be a half-constructed effort that was abandoned ten years ago… and written by an early version of a content-bot.
I’m not trying to be a diick here… but I am always involved in a lot of little projects like this and, based on presentation, this is untouchable due to incompetence or lack of care. (Too slick of presentation is frequently untouchable due to dealing with really smart people who are interested in everything but making and marketing a product).
Trust me, I’ve told him he needs to get a web designer to rebuild his page! He used some off the shelf package, and cranked it out in a couple days. His jersey design is good, but the rest? Well, he is my friend, so I don’t want to slam on him.
I haven’t spoken with him since leaving Korea, and I know he is busy with his primary Army job. Do you know a web designer who will work for a reasonable fee?
ChickenHead
11 years ago
There is a new program that is really helping solve the irritation that bicyclists cause motorists and pedestrians. Hopefully, it will expand in American and make its way to Korea.
MTB, I know some Korean web designers… but Korean websites generally suck… as they are bloated laggy things filled with animations and popups… seemingly under the idea that a website is inferior if it doesn’t use every clever website trick ever conceived. And, of course, they are generally poorly laid out logically with an intuitive organized flow. So, I cannot recommend Koreans for website (or software) design. Koreans need to stick to electronics and outsource software design.
On top of this, your friend’s website has no legible content… meaning he needs someone to understand his goods and services; and then present them with clear explanations and benefits. Designing the actual website is no more difficult than using a word processor… especially if you first look at well-made websites and follow their lead.
If he asks around, there must be a clever Army guy with a room full of computers who will do this at a very reasonable price.
Can you imagine how strong the smell of kimchi is in that thing?
“Can you imagine how strong the smell of kimchi is in that thing?”
Don’t stray lithium ions bond to the free sulfur receptors in kimcheeonium?
Anyway, this is EXACTLY what many city-dwelling commuters should be driving to work in every morning. Of course, there would need to be some changes in infrastructure or driving habits to keep the odds balanced for SUV vs. Tiny Electric Deathtrap.
What’s so special about a scooter tricycle in a shell?
Get an electric golf cart. They have greater carrying capacity.
“What’s so special about a scooter tricycle in a shell?”
Parking?
But the shell is the whole point… the evolution of transportation. The seemingly-obvious solution of a shell solves many of the problems of a scooter tricycle.
A scooter is a very efficient method of transportation for a single person going a relatively short distance… such as the resource-intensive but undemanding daily commute to and from work.
The shell removes many of the disadvantages of scooters by offering protection from the environment, protection in minor accidents, and increased visibilty.
Further, these can be made cheaply enough that it is not unreasonable for most families to own one… as many families have one member who commutes alone to work. Society is not set up to end the family car model for many activities… so this is an accessory rather than a replacement… and a very reasonable but useful step away from using gas-guzzling full-size cars with a one-tool-fits-all mentality.
Also, unlike a full-size electric car, or even a golf cart, the electrical infrastructure can support more widespread scooter-sized transportation which requires much less energy. Further, micro-scale wind generation on houses and apartments, even in the city, could supply much of the required energy.
This technology, as simple as it seems, should be encouraged technically, legally, and socially.
Think about carrying groceries to and from the emart. Not practical for families; but it does fit the pajamaboy/metrosexual image they’re trying to encourage. That car, if it catches on with young Korean males, could single – handedly improve the dating life of every waygook in Korea
Walking down a sidewalk in Korea’s about to get a little more dangerous.
Setnaffa,
“Think about carrying groceries to and from the emart.”
Do you carry many groceries TO “the emart”?
Anyway, as stated, “Society is not set up to end the family car model for many activities”. For shopping, long-distance travel, and group activities, a “standard car” is currently the appropriate tool for the job.
But much of the transportation in Korean cities is done by a single person going a relatively short distance without cargo. Changing the transportation paradigm is a huge benefit for Korea, from less economic drain for foreign oil purchases to reductions in air pollution (or “carbon emission” for those who fret about the possibility of climate change over the reality of dirty air).
There is also the possibility of a slightly larger version that could seat two people in-line or offer a cargo space large enough for some groceries.
Another advantage of this electric technology is the ease of which they can be networked to communicate with each other. This could standardize their speed for better traffic flow, assist in collision avoidance… and make Korean driving much more orderly.
“if it catches on with young Korean males, could single – handedly improve the dating life of every waygook in Korea”
Doubtful… as most of English teachers don’t even have cars… and, if they are marketed to be attractive you young Korean males, they will also have to be attractive to young Korean females.
Consider the level of personalization for every “user experience” these days… from social meetings where everybody is sitting around their table on their smartphone to people in public places all listening to their own music. Personalized transportation, where family members all have their own mostly-automated vehicles with networked communication is not an unreasonable view of the future.
Everybody says these are great for cities, and that is probably true; except there are still ‘terminator’ trucks running red lights on a regular basis in Seoul and other large Korean cities.
Doesn’t anyone miss the old days where a Korean dude stacked 150,000 things at least 35 ft to the high heavens and drove his 50 cc motorcycle dead through the busiest jam packed alleys crowded with people and rarely spilled his cargo?
That little thing is awesome! They should call it a Weeeness.
LIMERICK
Liz thinks it should be a Weeness,
and when driving, if anyone’s seen us,
we might get a berating;
accused of compensating
for fuel costs (rather than peenis).
If I added “Maybe a bicycle would solve the problem?” would that make me one of those annoying bicycle advocates? 😉
Hee hee hee!
🙂
BICYCLE
“would that make me one of those annoying bicycle advocates?”
Sadly, yes.
As a rule, bicycle riders are fantastically irritating and dangerous… with bicycle riders in America intentionally being azzholes because they feel entitled… and bicycle riders in Korea unintentionally being azzholes because they are foolish and ignorant… which results in an involuntary smile every time I hear of one dying a tragic death… which, after investigation, is almost never less than 50% the fault of the bicyclist… and is generally closer to 100%.
We can discuss the nuances of American bicyclists’ attitude another time…
…but here is what I observe in Korea.
Black bicycles… black Spandex… riding at night… tiny blinking LED taillight that serve as perfect camouflage amid all the other blinking LEDs found everywhere… riding on the busiest street available instead of a side street… holding up a line of traffic gingerly going around them by moving halfway into the next lane; which slows down the cars in that lane that have to move over as well… making every right turn off a main street an exercise in fear as they come speeding from nowhere to a place no one should be in a lane that does not exist… pretending to be a dangerously low-speed car when it is convenient for them… pretending to be a dangerously high-speed pedestrian when it is convenient for them… selective following of traffic rules that put a drunk taxi driver to shame… in conversation, a bizarre and unexplainable mindset in even the most book-smart that sees no danger in all this (as they point to their blinking LED as if it some sort of magic shield)… and, of course, in the countryside, lollygagging a quarter of the way into the middle of the most curvy country mountain road at 10kph oblivious to the continuous flow of cars coming around the corner and mashing on the brakes (even though there is an amazing dedicated bike path one valley over).
In high school, my friend’s father hit and killed a bicyclist who was riding slowly at night in dark clothes in the middle of a dark street… and, apart from no criminal charges, he was able to sue the estate for the repair of his car… as it should be.
In Korea, the smaller vehicle or most injured party has typically been “right”… though that is changing… so every time some hard-working guy driving safely at the posted speed and following the law killed some careless piece of shyt riding his bicycle foolishly, illegally, and against all possibilities of common sense, the car driver’s life was over… as his dreams of apartment ownership and educated children were crushed to pay off the family of the bicyclist who was obviously too stupid to reproduce.
MTB Rider, that is how I see it… but, as an experienced bicyclist in Korea, you may have insight that I do not. You may have a rational explanation for these behaviors which I have not yet grasped.
Kindly explain to us what the heck is going on.
CH, you may have missed something you wrote about. Parking. How many families have room for two vehicles in their apartment parking lot?
And as to the girls liking the guys that drive ’em, well, you might be right. But they will be 3-wheeled coffins in the land of soju and dump trucks. Folks forget how dangerous thos things can be. How unsafe. Remember USPS had 3-wheeled delivery vehicles until they started having to pay to repait them and hospitalize their drivers?
*those
BTW, i am not 100 percent sure but it looks like the guy in the driver’s seat is suffering a panic attack…
Setnaffa,
In theory, families that now have two full-size cars parked in the apartment parking lot will only need one. Many families have more than two… as Dad, Mom, and university-age children all have cars. Grandma and Grandpa might also have one.
These things can be fantastically unsafe… but part of the infrastructure and transportation paradigm change is more reliance on sensory processing and networked automation to avoid accidents and increase the flow of traffic.
Currently, America is on the brink of self-driving cars… CARS THAT DRIVE THEMSELVES!
They have been successfully tested and will be available to the consumer next year. Can you believe it? A car that can recognize all of the variables of a roadway and make correct decisions? Give it a weapon and who knows what it can do.
With networking, self-driving tricycles working together is a much easier project.
All right, by the numbers, CH:
Black Lycra: I can’t stand it myself, especially at night! Seriously, you’re not the bike ninja, wear white or reflective material. Not many manufacturers make bike jerseys or shorts with built-in reflective material, although my friend Jason is trying to change this by developing a line of jerseys with reflective material on the back, chest, sleeves and at the knees. It’s good stuff, I wear it and recommend it.
I only have three jerseys that are black. One is my mountain bike racing club’s jersey, only worn during closed course races, one is a second club’s jersey which I only got when I joined, and the third is a heavy/warm jersey I wear under my regular jersey and usually a jacket. Most of my shorts are black, because black goes with everything. And most of my shorts have some reflective material on the sides and back, to create a moving, eye catching reflection.
To me, it’s a Korean thing, where tanned skin=farm worker. Koreans want to be seen as intellectuals, or at least office workers, and work hard to maintain that indoor lighting pallor. When I do ride all night, I wear one of those road worker vests. Huge reflective stripes, and big pockets for your sandwiches. I rarely ride at night, although I have ridden from Uijeongbu to Sokcho twice, and from Wanju to Gwangju as well as Seoul to Gwangju. The last two were 24 hour rides, of over 375km.
Tiny Blinking LEDs. What do you suggest? That’s the lights the stores sell. I set mine to random, eye catching blinker so an approaching driver is more likely to see me. I also ride with fresh lithium batteries, so they are at their brightest. I wear multiple lights: on my bike, backpack, and helmet. If you run over a Christmas tree, it’s your fault. Six individual lights in the bike blinker, four on the backpack, six on the helmet, all blinking at different, eye catching rates. The headlight is 6 bright white LEDs, about as bright as a good flashlight.
Busy Streets: I avoid those if at all possible. I once rode down Hwy 43 near Pocheon. Never again. It was also the only place I have ever been hit by a car, when a little Damas microvan passed me, then immediately made a blinkerless right turn directly in front of me. I was expecting him to do something dumb ass (I saw him on his phone just as he passed me, so I was already on the brakes just in case), and right on cue he cut me off and I hit the side of his van. Luckily, we were both doing about 10kph. I also almost got creamed by a lady making a sudden, blinkerless left turn in front of me into a parking lot and passing behind me close enough to touch my back tire. Not sure if she was on the phone or not, but this WAS a lesser used road.
Roads: This is a design problem in places. Here in New Mexico, most roads have shoulders at least 4 feet wide, and usually a bit more. In Korea, the roads don’t always have the shoulder, and the shoulder can be dangerous due to road debris. The right tire track is usually the safest, if traffic is light. Cars can pass you, and they are not tempted to try to squeeze around you, leading to getting clipped by a mirror.
Traffic: I can keep up, and often am able to pass cars. Not a hindrance. I average about 30kph, which is about what Seoul traffic averages as well.
Right turns: Not sure what you mean. I take the lane, in my lane, like any other vehicle, and at speed. I’m usually in the right tire track of the right most lane.
Selective traffic obedience: Are you kidding me? This is (was) Korea! Anyways, I admit I do run reds, just like every Korean in the country. I slow to make sure there is no cross traffic approaching, then if the way is clear, pedal on. A bike accelerates slower from a standing start than a car, but can accelerate at nearly the same speeds if already moving. If the lights were on a Smart Light system instead of a timer, people would be able to get around a lot more smoothly, but when you hit five lights in a row all timed to make you stop for each and every one, it does get irritating. This applies to cars as well as bikes.
Problems I face are people with zero situational awareness, pedestrians walking in the bike lanes because they are “nicer,” and old folks walking directly across the path with nary a glance to the left or right. I have to be careful all the time as a Caucasian because any accident I may be involved in is automatically my (the round eye’s) fault. A friend of mine was riding on the Han River Path when an old guy rolled his bike through the yield sign and well marked heavy white stripe and t-boned her, knocking her off her bike, and breaking her cheekbone. It cost HER $700 for the damages to his bike (worth maybe $50 in a good light). Why? Old Korean guy and Korean cop. No translator.
Bikes do have the right to use public roads, with the exception of the “Interstates.” When I ride, I look for the old frontage roads or other lesser used roads, and look for hills that have room for cars to get around me without causing accidents.
MTB RIder, thank you for your thoughtful reply.
Sadly, the vast majority of bicyclists do not match your standards of responsibility for personal safety or consideration for other travelers.
Some follow-ups comments…
“Right turns: Not sure what you mean.”
Bikes don’t like to slow down. Even when bikes exercise their “right” to be treated like a car and “take the lane”, they will illegally pass on the right if given the chance. Slowing down to make a right turn with a signal sometimes encourages a bicyclist to speed up in hopes of beating the car to the right turn… or perhaps the bicyclist has some idea that it is his “right” to have the right-of-way and the car must wait. This becomes a problem when, as you mentioned, the turning car uses no signal. That is illegal and a mistake on the part of the driver… but not accident-causing to a trailing vehicle which follows traffic rules.
A following car, unable to pass on the right, simply slows down. Most motorcyclists do as well. A bicyclist “untakes” the lane, abandoning their “right” to be treated like a car, and illegally passes on the right in cases where they don’t see the signal-less right turn coming. This doesn’t excuse the driver for not using their signal… but two wrongs don’t make a right… so the bicyclist’s inevitable whining about “but there was no signal” is meaningless… and both should be responsible for their own damages and injuries.
Further, a fast bicyclist coming from far away on a crowded sidewalk cannot always be seen by a driver making a right turn with a limited view of predictable pedestrians… and the bicyclist sometimes does not see the car… or claims it is his “right” to fly through the crosswalk at near-traffic speed rather than pedestrian speed.
There is one place I frequently make a right turn off a main street directly in front of a bus stop where up to three buses might be blocking any view of the sidewalk. Though I can safely interact with slow pedestrians, waiting for them to cross or completing my turn before they reach the crosswalk, sometimes fast-moving bicyclists come from behind the buses and fly through the crosswalk with no concern. I have seen several near-misses with cars coming out of that sidestreet to make a right turn… as, due to a wall and some plants, they are unable to see far up the sidewalk until they pull into the crosswalk.
My complaint is that the vast majority of bicyclists have no concern for society… always talking about their “rights” and never talking about their responsibilities.
The reality is that pedestrian infrastructure is designed for things moving at a walking speed and roadway infrastructure is designed for things moving at driving speed… and the places where these two areas meet are not designed for much variation without additional caution on the part of the person using them in a different way.
While bicyclists may certainly navigate both of these environments successfully, they must understand that neither was designed for their use and they must take extra caution and responsibility for their actions compared to those who are predictably using these areas as they were designed… instead of the normal attitude which ALWAYS gets the word “rights” worked into the conversation (yes, even you did it).
Bike paths on sidewalks or bike lanes on the far right are not real solutions and have, unfortunately, added to the sense of smug entitlement that so many bicyclists have when they start going on about their “rights”.
LEDs: “Tiny Blinking LEDs. What do you suggest? That’s the lights the stores sell.”
Uhhh… if all the store sold was garden hoses, would you still go skydiving? The burden of responsibility and safety is upon the bicyclist and not the Chinese factory churning out whatever 70s-era 3-LEDs-on-a-PCB crap they can make the cheapest and put in a go-faster chrome-plated case to pawn off on gullible bicyclists who, it seems, will buy anything.
Blinking LEDs are noticeable on stationary objects but blend in very well on a moving object in an environment filled with moving and blinking lights. A combination of blinking and continuous light is superior, but not the complete answer. While cars and motorcycles have large tail lights with a legally-mandated surface area, bicycles’ LEDs are simply bright point sources with most of their output focused directly to the back. Headlights are the same. Point sources have very different visibility characteristics even when the light output is technically the same.
I would propose that bicycles traveling at night with their “right to use public roads” should be required to have a glowing red panel with a standard minimum surface area like any other vehicle with a right to use public roads. They should further be required to have yellow lights on the sides that function as running lights and turn signals.
A quick check just now showed me you are right, though. Bicycle lighting products are fantastically underdeveloped… mostly all the exact same system of several high-brightness LEDs packed into different cases. I think I can make something much better.
How about this: when (if?) you come back to Korea, I will manufacture what I believe to be a superior system with better visibility. I will give you one. You can test it. You can compile your thoughts and experience, as well as the comments of others. After a design cycle or two, the problem will be solved. One of the features I would add on a tail light are white LEDs facing FORWARD. This illuminates the bicycle and rider. I saw a guy with flashlights mounted on the back wheel that made him really visible at night. Whatdoyathink?
Anyway…
The equal “right” to use public roads, just like cars and motorcycles, requires equal responsibility… which is a statement that has started an argument with every bicyclist I have ever said it to… an argument filled with emotion and rationalization and excuses… but no real content on the bicyclists’ part.
In any action, there is a requirement for some degree of personal responsibility. Substandard visibility, in both clothing and lighting, is neglect of that responsibility. While you may take this somewhat seriously, the vast majority of bicyclists do not…
…and that is my complaint.
Ah, now I see what you mean. Where there are bike lanes, they are usually on the right most lane, where bikes can pass slower cars approaching a light, and the door zone. So bikes have cars not expecting them on one side, and drivers opening doors without checking their mirrors first on the other. Annoying to drivers, dangerous for riders. It also surprised me that Korea allows and in many places requires bicycles to use the sidewalks as bike lanes. This is not safe for anyone, riders, pedestrians or cars taking right turns.The river trails up Uijeongbu and Dongducheon are much safer, as no cars. Unfortunately, the Han River Trail is very crowded and dangerous except during the coldest days of winter. I hate riding into town.
“If a store only sold garden hoses would I still go skydiving?” I don’t know how to answer that, so: If you had the choice to funk the hottest tranny in South Korea or Tom’s Mom, would you ride a fish wearing a purple hat? Same type of non-sequitur, i guess.Your coice if either you or the fish wears the hat.
As for your lighted panel for seeing riders, check my friend’s website: http:www.XKGear.com. Very few jersey company makes reflective bike jerseys, although at least one in South Korea were just beginning to offer a few with some reflectives built in when I left. Jason Knight developed a jersey with a large, highly reflective logo meant to make bikes easier to see. Back, chest, shoulder to elbows and knees. This provides a solid reflective surface in addition to blinking lights. Instead of inventing a large lighted panel, maybe consider helping him get his jerseys to market? Or help him improve the design?
These jerseys are much more reflective than the standard issue Army Belt, and we all know how many lives those save yearly. 😉 Or at least the Army claims that any accident where the victim wasn’t wearing one would have been prevented if only the belt had been worn.
The “right” to use the roads is part of Federal Law in the States, and is (or should be) in Korean Road Use law. Car drivers are the ones that are far more likely to act like and demand that bikes stay off the roads, as only cars are entitled to use the roads on the “My taxes paid for this!” philosophy. Yeah, and I don’t pay taxes? I assure you I do.
I also assure you most cyclists can be very critical of other riders who hog the road or otherwise ride dangerously. My basic philosophy is that the car is much bigger and heavier. +1500kg vs my 90kg total. My goal is to avoid the cars as much as possible.
MTB Rider,
Oh dear. OhdearOhdearOhdear.
Please guide your friend in the right direction.
Let me count the ways.
– website that takes ages to load because…
– loud autoplay music (and video) which is very poor website manner and just angers everyone as they hurriedly pull up the volume control to click the mute checkbox as everyone else in the room stares in irritation.
– and there are many links to a vast array of outside servers… possibly to include every widget ever made?
– stylish late-90s web format with clunky early 2000s animated tab and fade design… with all pictures and text in arbitrary places and sizes… hinting that it was all hand-coded in text HTML instead of using an editor. Perhaps the designer was suffering from a stroke. The convoluted picture that is actually making the sale pitch is so big it requires a scroll to see it in full… or a monitor with a resolution that will hit the consumer market some time around 2020. (HD is 1080 pixels high and the most important picture on the website, the one with all the sales information trying to make a good impression, is 1128 pixels high).
– an exciting blog that gets updated every 2 to 6 weeks with pictures that claim to be food but truly appear to be hillbilly vomit. I’m looking at you, black bean burger. I encourage everyone to check this out… as you will laugh and gag at the same time… and it will certainly help you diet… at least if bulimia is your diet strategy.
http://www.xkgear.com/#!Black-Bean-Burgers-/c16n3/1
– All the pictures of pretty women on the homepage are shamelessly stolen directly from The Venus Factor website. They are a women’s exercise company. They probably would frown on another exercise company claiming that their imaginary stock clip art women are the same imaginary stock clip art women they paid to represent their company.
xxtp://venusfactorworkouts.com/ (replace the ‘xx’ with ‘ht’… did this to avoid link limits and spam trap)
– no clear information on the homepage as to the exact nature of what is being peddled… it appeared to be some kind of exercise class. I had to dig around looking for where the classes actually are located… until realizing on a convoluted subpage that they are online. This convoluted subpage is titled ‘start here’ and is the very last clickable thing on the homepage. The stroke victim who designed this also had dyslexia, it seems.
– two of the three instructors that are presumably selling some kind of service didn’t bother to put any information about themselves or their qualifications… or write a paragraph to explain exactly what they did. I’m suspicious of a lady that thick guiding me through exercise… unless it is unlimited power squats.
– the one instructor who offers 5-15 minute on-line meditation sessions did write a vague paragraph… but included a photo that looks like the only thing she does is climb out of bed without brushing her hair and meditating herself into a tub of Baskin-Robbins while looking guilty about it.
– please tell me this was written by a non-English speaker. It’s like Konglish but not Konglish. The ‘store’ selling the reflective clothing has writing that is composed of misspelled oddly-conceptualized cliche-driven non-sentences. It starts out, “If you the kind of person who likes to have total control of your life and want to be seen at dusk, dawn, or at night in highly reflective gear.” Period. That’s it. Conditional sentences (if-then) without consequences are… are… are… confusing. It kind of goes slowly downhill from there.
I’m sure I could find more to pick at if I spent some time on it. If this guy is your friend, please, please, please, help him get his website in order. I can’t imagine anyone would send any money to this website that appears to be a half-constructed effort that was abandoned ten years ago… and written by an early version of a content-bot.
I’m not trying to be a diick here… but I am always involved in a lot of little projects like this and, based on presentation, this is untouchable due to incompetence or lack of care. (Too slick of presentation is frequently untouchable due to dealing with really smart people who are interested in everything but making and marketing a product).
Good luck.
Trust me, I’ve told him he needs to get a web designer to rebuild his page! He used some off the shelf package, and cranked it out in a couple days. His jersey design is good, but the rest? Well, he is my friend, so I don’t want to slam on him.
I haven’t spoken with him since leaving Korea, and I know he is busy with his primary Army job. Do you know a web designer who will work for a reasonable fee?
There is a new program that is really helping solve the irritation that bicyclists cause motorists and pedestrians. Hopefully, it will expand in American and make its way to Korea.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2791021/cyclist-executed-broad-daylight-brooklyn.html?
MTB, I know some Korean web designers… but Korean websites generally suck… as they are bloated laggy things filled with animations and popups… seemingly under the idea that a website is inferior if it doesn’t use every clever website trick ever conceived. And, of course, they are generally poorly laid out logically with an intuitive organized flow. So, I cannot recommend Koreans for website (or software) design. Koreans need to stick to electronics and outsource software design.
On top of this, your friend’s website has no legible content… meaning he needs someone to understand his goods and services; and then present them with clear explanations and benefits. Designing the actual website is no more difficult than using a word processor… especially if you first look at well-made websites and follow their lead.
If he asks around, there must be a clever Army guy with a room full of computers who will do this at a very reasonable price.