South Korean truck driver was watching TV when he killed three cyclists

[unreal.livejournal.com]

A truck driver who killed three South Korean professional cyclists in a road accident has admitted he was watching a television mounted on his dashboard at the time, police said Thursday.

Police found the TV switched on when they and other rescuers arrived Tuesday at the scene of the accident at Euiseong, 205 miles (330km) southeast of Seoul.

The 66-year-old trucker surnamed Baek has been detained on suspicion of dangerous driving.

His truck rammed a van which was following the women cyclists with their coach inside and pushed it into the trio. They were killed on the spot and four other people were seriously injured.

"Although the law bans drivers from watching television while driving, there isn't any [specific] penalty when caught, so we can't do anything about it," a Euiseong police spokesman told AFP.

Offenders can, however, be charged with other road traffic offenses if they cause an accident while watching the screen.

A total of 5,505 people were killed in 226,878 auto accidents in South Korea in 2010, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority said.

Source: myfoxdc

Comments

[laeryn.livejournal.com]

...wtf, seriously?!

[rosamajalis.livejournal.com]

"Although the law bans drivers from watching television while driving, there isn't any [specific] penalty when caught, so we can't do anything about it"

This makes no sense to me. It's banned, but there's no penalty? So the law is basically 'pretty please don't watch TV while driving'?

[liferule91.livejournal.com]

it's pretty crazy that a law for it even exist. Like how bad did it get for them to even make this law.

[asnindie.livejournal.com]

He wasn't smoking dope while driving so no1kara.

Seriously though how the fuck did this happen, the poor families:(

[caitlinonkey.livejournal.com]

korea NEEDS to sort out it's priorities, I don't know anyone who died from smoking dope ffs

[chloe1910.livejournal.com]

"Although the law bans drivers from watching television while driving, there isn't any [specific] penalty when caught, so we can't do anything about it," a Euiseong police spokesman told AFP.
-WTF? The poor victims and their families.

[falling-empress.livejournal.com]

yeah..that makes sense, make laws with no punishments...wtf?!!?!

[hugtimes.livejournal.com]

jesus fucking christ, this is awful.

[tiggie0307.livejournal.com]

I use to think the k-dramas about people always dying in car accidents were always over the top but good god, I found it was true to life. This is very disturbing.

[sirhin.livejournal.com]

Those mini-screens are dangerous. I always thought it awesome that all the GPS systems I saw in Korea included a function for TV, radio, and music. At the same time, I always wondered how come I didn't hear of that many accidents.

I take that back.

Apparently, the mistakes start happening a lot out of the city. :/

[purring-feline.livejournal.com]

HE WAS DOING WHAT WHILE DRIVING?

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately it's really common here. I never really see it in personal cars, but I see it in taxis all the time. I really want to tell them to turn it off but even if I could say it I don't think they'd listen to me.

[kellygreen.livejournal.com]

JFC. I'm not at all surprised, though. Every time I get into a taxi and see that the driver has the TV on, I pretty much just accept that that particular cab ride might be my last. I'm actually shocked I've never been in an accident here, given all the near-misses I've had.

[miki-831.livejournal.com]

Reading all these posts about horrible drivers, is not helping the stereotype that Asians are bad drivers in my mind.

[sai12.livejournal.com]

I knew it had to happen. Omg I was always so worried when the taxi driver seemed to be more interested in his TV than on the driving.

[rikli.livejournal.com]

so, wait, wait, no punishment for him or what? OR WHAT?????

[slatslatslats.livejournal.com]

the fuck are you doing korea

[jeugd1.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of an old 20/20 documentary on crazy stuff ppl do while driving here in the US
One of them was reading a book

[dilettantka.livejournal.com]

one time I was in NYC and looked out of my passenger-side window and saw the guy next to me had the newspaper spread out over the steering wheel T_T

[fondle.livejournal.com]

lmfao @ reading a book. if i'm gonna kill someone on the road might as well look cultured n shit while doing it

[annhh.livejournal.com]

what is this fuckery..

1. stupid driver 2. stupid law 3. stupid driving culture, numbers are crazy high

[falling-empress.livejournal.com]

"Although the law bans drivers from watching television while driving, there isn't any [specific] penalty when caught, so we can't do anything about it," a Euiseong police spokesman told AFP.

are you fucking SERIOUS? what's the point of a law if there are no consequences?!

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

ikr? It's a freaking *law* which means there should be penalties in place. Plus they're the goddamn police. You can name any [reasonable] penalty you want!

[michurusan.livejournal.com]

I always thought kdramas were over the top but when I went to Korea, my friend said that people know you're a foreigner if you use the seat belt, the taxi that I rode in , the taxi driver had his tv on but thankfully, he was just listening and the screen were for the passengers. In korea, I heard that drivers don't care much for pedestrians. If they see an empty intersection and the light is red, they still go.

[erisinia.livejournal.com]

Yup. Laws here are more like suggestions. The roads with yellow lines on the curb are 'forbidden' to park at, but every day every street is lined with parked cars. Two-lane roads are more like one-and-a-half lane roads. The things bus and taxi drivers do are insane. Maybe there's a feeling of false or real confidence because compared to back home their drivers licence test is really stringent.

Everyone I asked about the fact that, you know, people break laws all the time and no one gets arrested, said 'Korean people have a lot of 'jeong'. We believe in tolerating people's mistakes and being patient." that's all nice and stuff but come on people.

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

:\ Tolerating mistakes is one thing but laws are laws. They are in place for a reason. I don't think I could get a car here anytime soon. I'm even weary about getting a scooter lest some distracted driver knock me off the road.

[lovelyxbeauty.livejournal.com]

The Hell !? what possess people to think they can drive and do something else at the same time, you're full concentration is supposed to be on the road. I feel sorry for the victims and their families, no justice will be done :( how can a country take gambling more seriously than animal abuse and the safety of their citizens ?

A total of 5,505 people were killed in 226,878 auto accidents in South Korea in 2010
and STILL nothing has changed WTF!!!

[twinkystar16.livejournal.com]

i couldn't watch tv when driving
once i pulled down the handbrake, automatically whatever visual on my mini tv in the car turned into audio only
this how it should be or else people won't be concentrating on the road, thus accident happened

[chibi-rei.livejournal.com]

I always get a little freaked out when I get in a taxi here and the driver is watching TV on his GPS. I can't understand why they made that a feature in the first place. It's a terrible idea in terms of safety! Is that a feature anywhere else in the world (for GPS)?