ID :
110267
Sun, 03/07/2010 - 16:04
Auther :

(Yonhap Feature) 5 months later, S. Koreans still confused over new pedestrian


By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, March 7 (Yonhap) -- Once known as a boozehound among his colleagues, Kim
Tae-ju used to have no trouble getting back home by subway, walking through
crowded stations to and from platforms no matter how drunk he was.
But these days, Kim, 42, who gave up drinking this year, finds himself bumping
into and apologizing to people even while sober, as the government's new walkway
campaign -- which requires South Koreans to walk on the right instead of the left
in public places -- bumps up against an 88-year-old Korean practice.
"(It was) irritating," said Kim. "I was taught to walk on the left side at school
and have been doing so for my whole life. I don't understand what we are making
all this fuss for."
Kim's frustration reflects the confusion many South Koreans are experiencing
after the government launched the new campaign advising them to kick their
decades-old habit of keeping to the left while walking on streets, in subway
stations and on stairways.
On Oct. 1, South Korea began switching its pedestrian walkways to the right-hand
side, ending eight decades of Japanese influence that dates back to the
peninsula's colonial years. Not only will this measure undo the legacy of the
colonial rule, but it will also reduce the risk of accidents in a country where
nearly nine out of every 10 people are right-handed, the government said.
Ahead of the full enforcement of the plan slated for July, major public
institutions in South Korea have put up signs recommending passengers to keep to
the right.
Seo Hye-jin, a 29-year-old office worker who uses Seoul's busiest subway line No.
2 each morning, said she is "definitely experiencing more confusion" after the
new rules were partly enforced five months ago.
"I think the government failed to realize that it is an unconscious agreement,
rather than rules, that really keeps the order on the walkways," she said.
"Pedestrians are unaware of the signboards or notices most of the times. They
keep to the side they are used to and trust others will do the same."
Korea adopted the left-side system in 1921 while under Japanese colonial rule
(1910-1945). In the 1950s, the country reversed the rule for cars, switching
drivers to the right side of the road, but kept pedestrian traffic to the left.
Largely influenced by samurai warriors, who ruled Japanese society during the Edo
period (1603-1867), Japan kept to the left side for both pedestrian and vehicular
traffic and is one of the few countries in which vehicles are manufactured with
left-hand drives, according to experts.
Sword-bearing Japanese samurai in the old days roamed the streets while keeping
to the left side of the road to draw their swards more easily in case of
emergency and also to avoid collisions and unnecessary squabbles with samurais
coming from the opposite direction.
"This Samurai theory is not scientifically proven, but it is what the majority of
Japanese historians believe," said Yu Jeong-bok, a researcher at the Korea
Transport Institute. "Japan already reversed its pedestrian walkway rules to the
right side in 1946 in a move to reduce traffic accidents."
Some 66 percent of the world's population lives in countries where traffic is
kept to the right, according to data compiled in 2005.
"I personally think we should have switched the (non-binding) rules a long time
ago," Yu added. "Familiar and comfortable rules are not always the best ones."
There are still concerns that the right-side pedestrian campaign will cause more
inconvenience to disabled or elderly people who carry canes or rely on guide
dogs.
"Most of these people carry sticks in their right hands and hold onto the left
side handrails when they walk up and down the stairs," said Yoo Jung-hye, an
official at the Korea Disabled People's Development Institute. "Making them
reverse is virtually impossible."
Despite the growing dissatisfaction among people, the government is firm on the
necessity of undoing the country's 88-year-old pedestrian traffic legacy.
The government cites research that shows keeping to the right could reduce up to
24 percent of pedestrian collisions and increase walking speed by up to 1.7
percent. Because pedestrians can make eye contact with the cars coming toward
them when they walk on the right side, the new measures will also reduce
people-car collisions to a considerable amount, it believes.
Faced with criticism that the government not made a big enough effort to reduce
confusion by properly promoting the new rules in public places, Seoul Metro said
it will make haste in reforming facilities to fit the right-side walkway
principle.
"We realize we have lacked manpower as well as effort (in promoting the new
rules)," an official at Seoul Metro said, requesting not to be named. "We will
make more effort and fix all facilities to adhere to right-side passage during
the familiarization period (until July)."
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)

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