Road Rage

If one is susceptible to having a short fuse and flying off the handle easily, perhaps if one has been prone to road rage, it might be a good idea to leave earlier or to avoid situations such as rush hour to prevent an incident of road rage from occurring. Give yourself more time to get somewhere, choose an alternative route, or in some cases when possible, use public transportation.

It should be worth noting in terms of road rage in Korea is that as a nation, most Koreans have not been driving for many years. When I first arrived in Seoul in 1990, not too many Koreans had learned how to drive. As a result, most motorists have not had years of a “driving culture” as it were (in Korea, you hear the use of “culture” used a lot to describe everything from “food culture” to “drinking culture”) to learn how to drive defensively.

Perhaps, road rage, at least here in Korea can also be attributed to a lack of driving etiquette because many motorists just lack the experience, not to mention how to act in terms of driving defensively when they are behind the wheel of their automobile. Additionally, Koreans are notorious for their ppalli-ppalli which can be translated as “hurry, hurry” mentality. As such, road rage is quite common with hot-tempered motorists in a hurry to get somewhere.

It can get out of hand, but not like it might in the States. When it does, it can get ugly. One time, I was on a bus that had been cut off by a SUV, and the bus driver who had probably driven tanks for the ROK Army chased after the SUV, cutting it off and forcing it up on the sidewalk near the U.S. Embassy in downtown Seoul. Road rage in Korea often means, “don’t get mad; get even.”

I think many road rage incidents have to do with the lack of etiquette and in some cases overreacting like when someone cuts you off. The best way to deal with road rage in terms of preventing an incident from occurring is just to drive defensively and always watch out for the other motorist, not to mention to be a responsible driver. You would expect the same from another motorist. At the same time, if one feels slighted, to the point where tempers could flare, one should remain calm and if not, pull off to the side of the road and wait a few minutes before continuing.

It is all about being a responsible driver, to think about the other people that could be put in harms’ way (like a bus load of passengers in the case of the road rage I experienced in Seoul) to drive defensively and to treat other motorists the way one would want to be treated. Road rage doesn’t have to occur if motorists exercise a little caution and etiquette when driving.