the Cautionless Country

the days of extravagant fog have begun again here in yangpyeong.
every morning, i ride the school bus to pick up a lot of children living a lot of places around the outskirts of town. in those 45 minutes of driving we cover a lot of ground.
this morning, in the thick of korea's infamous foggy dawn, i saw 3 accidents.
keep in mind that it is foggy a large majority of the mornings here in this warmer weather.
most people slow down in less than ideal driving conditions. it seems to merely spur koreans on to drive more dangerously.
a large number of koreans are, with no exaggeration, really really bad drivers.

not to mention that the use of seat belts and baby car seats seem rare here, if not absent.

i see fog, slow my pace, and proceed with caution.
koreans speed up to get through the danger faster.

i see a red light, i stop.
koreans see an opportunity to get ahead by buzzing through it.

it seems almost as if here, caution is seen as weakness.