Heavy metal thunder racin’ with the wind…
Nearly everyone who has ridden a bike for any length of time will agree.  The highways are crowded with people who drive as if their sole purpose in getting behind the wheel is to avenge every wron…

I saw a scooter get nailed last week. Busted the front of his Forte all to heck, and dented/knocked the SUV bumper clean off. That guy nailed it pretty good, but was still alive and rolling on the ground in pain. No blood.

I saw a pizza delivery guy get nailed once, and watched in shock as the driver of the car got out and tried to pull the writhing guy to his feet. He probably made the injuries worse.

I drive a Daelim 125cc. I have for over 3 years. I’ve seen some crazy things happen, and nearly went down myself a few times. Scooter driving in Korea is like a sport.

God, I hope the guy wasn’t killed.

Considering that this asshole may have plowed into a pedestrian or two instead, I consider his possible death a blessing and a life-saver. I almost got hit once by such an idiot in front of 외대 [the guy just plowed into the crossroad, full of pedestrians crossing into or out of the Uni], and have very little patience for two-wheeled assassins.

In fact, he was in the left-turn lane, but turned right, instead

Which, of course, happens about once a second at any Seoul crossroad, and not just with motorbikes.

If as Valor says the light pattern is (1) left turns only, then (2) straight on only, then the SUV Driver is also going to be found at fault. While common sense tells you that all other things being equal the allocation of fault should be 50/50, it won’t be, given the leeway granted moto mogis in Korea and the fact that the cyclist was seriously injured. Especially if the court sees the tape, they are going to say that but for the SUV’s traffic violation, the cyclist would have escaped unscathed, nothwithstanding that he also violated the traffic regulations and equally couldn’t have been injured but for his own negligence. He’s luck he just managed to get around the guy turning left with the signal. The SUV driver’s case isn’t going to be helped by the facts that s/he’s not only apparently a foreigner but connected with USFK. Korean courts are very far from blind when it comes to a decision between fellow tribesmen and the barbarians.

Anyhow, with the all-red, as Valor points out, it does make it that much more tempting for traffic that just got a red to try to cross anyhow (assuming the cross street still has red), or for cross traffic to try to jump the light, so maybe it would all be for naught.

Regarding the phasing of left turns, between Nomad and Valor, it sounds like the intersection’s phasing might actually have changed from standard to non-standard? That’s just whacked.

Anyhoo, more generally, I’ve seen vehicles on 4 wheels run red lights a couple of times in Korea (when they obviously figured it wouldn’t lead to an accident)—but then, I’ve even seen it done (by a bus driver, no less) in Vancouver.

Okay, last thought (on a completely different but related note): despite the impression one might get vis a vis a complete lack of driver safety education in Korea, I was done at the 시외 버스 (intercity bus) terminal in Jinhae on the south coast just last week, and there was a series of about 10 VERY detailed and well illustrated posters on just about every possible accident scenario at an intersection (going straight, turning right, turning left; involving cars where they should or shouldn’t be, motorcycles, pedestrians) and what should be done to avoid such scenarios. I was blown away by how good they were. Don’t remember now the name of the company (it was a company, too; the URL wasn’t go.kr) that published them.

The much bigger issue with respect to this intersection—from a traffic engineer’s point of view (not that I am one)—would be the simultaneous left turns in opposite directions. While this is standard practice in North America—indeed, very much the rule rather than the exception—it is of course highly unusual for South Korea. The usual situation where there are protected left turns is for left-turn and through traffic in one direction to go simultaneously (동시 신호)—along with the non-conflicting crosswalk&mdash. If motorists are used to that arrangement—and why wouldn’t they be?—then they may instinctively behave at this intersection in the same way as they would at other signals.