South Korean taxi drivers win right to watch TV in cabs, for now
By Donald Melanson 
posted Nov 3rd 2009 4:44PM
posted Nov 3rd 2009 4:44PM
You know, we've made plenty of jokes about the DMB mobile TV functionality found in seemingly every GPS unit released in South Korea, but it looks like taxi drivers in the country take their distractions seriously -- serious enough to go to court. That issue apparently came to a head recently when one cab driver challenged a $500 fine he received for watching TV while on the job, which had apparently become a relatively common means to beat boredom during traffic jams but was banned last year by a local regulation in the city of Seoul. While the court obviously didn't go so far as to condone the practice (watching TV while driving was apparently a factor in upwards of 200 accidents in the country last year), it did rule that the regulation in Seoul was illegal because it was based on a 1961 law that's been superseded. Cabbies shouldn't get too comfortable with their in-car rigs just yet, however, as we have a sneaking suspicion this won't be the final word on the matter.[Thanks, Badison]
That just doesn't seem like a good idea. My standard GPS distracts me too much as it is. Maybe pop one in the back for the passengers instead.
I will never hail a cab in South Korea then.
I was thinking the same thing!
But you cannot prevent them from coming at you...
It's really not that unsafe. When you're in stop and go traffic in the middle of Korea, having something to look at keeps you more awake.
When I lived in Korea, it was faster to ride a bike. It took hours to travel 30 miles. The roads are still far behind the growth.
Then again, when that Bradley ran over those kids, it showed us what the real danger is in Korea... people running across narrow, often icy, streets, with poor regard for vehicles. So maybe TVs should go. I think it would be cool if the TV display simply shut off when the vehicle was in motion.
Thats what happens in most cars with built-in TVs, mind most of them have "cheat codes" - I remember doing it to my dads BMW7 for watching in traffic jams.
ALl they need is a car seat / toilet seat
There's not much that is scarier than a cab ride is Seoul, even long before there were TVs in cabs. It's not unusual for two cabbies to stop in traffic, get out of their cars, and duke it out.
a typical GPS that these cabs might use is 7" or sometimes even larger......
I was there earlier this year and didn't notice any of them watching TV on their huge GPSes..
Now they can watch Starcraft matches right from their taxi
Who DOESN'T want to watch starcraft matches in a taxi?!
oh wait a sec, I actually prefer watching NFS Shift whiling driving.
Personally, I prefer a good round of WATCHING THE ROAD.
Just rig it so it doesn't work when the car's in motion.
Genius.
most in-dash video players only work when the parking brake is on anyway so i don't really see how this is that big of a deal.
How about a technological solution? Sense the cab is moving and turn off the screen. Audio is fine, just like regular car stereo.
I was in S. Korea for 2 weeks this summer and taking a lot of cabs. Most taxi drivers had the TV on while driving - not just in slow traffic but the entire time.
Seriously, me too. I figured there's a dual purpose to it:
1. They are bored (I don't blame them).
2. They don't want to make it obvious that they're taking the longer route.
My cousin and I got in a fight with the driver because we pointed out that he was trying to rip us off, but that a-hole insisted there was traffic down the shortcut (how would he know when the gps is turned to a variety show?). This is one of the low points of having dmb available on anything and everything in Korea.
Taxi in Korea was really cheap anyway. $5 got me virtually anywhere within city limit (OK, I wasn't in Seoul, but some other city) Issue was that so many taxi drivers didn't know how to get there! And if they didn't know where I wanted to go, they just drove off without saying anything. How unprofessional!
I'd so bypass that just because of the principle of the thing, the handbrake-link I mean.
Not that I'd watch TV in traffic, in fact I don't even watch TV at home, but the thought of them messing with my freedom like that and playing me, it would made me angry while I drove thinking about it causing roadrage and creating an unsafe situation.
Excuse that the message didn't go to the right thread, my connection was lost and a retry made the message go on its own.
Good thing I specified what I was referring to in the message.
I live in Korea. I've taken a cab to work every day for the past 6 months, and I've never noticed the cab driver actually watching the TV while we were driving, sans maybe a few glances when there was absolutely no traffic around us. The only times I feel a bit worried in a cab are when the driver rolls through red lights, turns left from the center lane, rides the envelope through a turn, or goes quite a bit faster than the posted speed limit. Then again, bus drivers and other Koreans often do the same things.
I live in South Korea and this is true.
At least 89% of Taxi drivers in Korea have GPS devices with DMB (TV Tuner in there car)
Whenever i ride the taxi i always see the GPS device set to DMB mode.
Every single time i ride a taxi i see the driver watching drama, or the news.
I got used to this so i really dint mind about all of it.
But when i think about it the Americans will think this is really crazy.
I think its great for them when they are waiting for customers, but bad when
they are watching tv while driving (which none of them do).
Well at least they know where they're going .. unlike the taxi drives in Sydney: http://unexpectedtraveller.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/taxing-my-patience/ and they also aren't all Vikings like in Oslo: http://unexpectedtraveller.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/the-viking-taxi-driver/
The Unexpected Traveller