Ruminations in Korea

Comment by blair

7 September 2006 @ 5:54 pm

If they miss they can impact another vehile and maybe spider an innocent windshield. What about an air horn? Or paintball gun?

Comment by Jeff in Korea

7 September 2006 @ 6:02 pm

I’m a pretty good aim though. I’ve got a loud horn, but horns and paintball guns don’t do damage. A golf ball dent in your vehicle or a shattered window would make you think twice.

About innocent drivers…Collateral damage is an unforunate and unavoidable consequence of any war. Maybe it will make them be more careful too next time they are out on the road.

Comment by larry grant

7 September 2006 @ 7:30 pm

I want to use a paintball gun on those type of a**holes, but I’m afraid of what might happen if it caused an accident.

Comment by Jeff in Korea

7 September 2006 @ 7:44 pm

I thought about that briefly, but then I figured that the LAST thing Koreans need to see is a large, leather-clad foreigner riding a Harley-Davidson while waiving a gun in the air.

Comment by Iceberg

7 September 2006 @ 7:49 pm

I’ll tell you golf balls are a bad idea. They are too expensive. Just collect some rocks to throw.

Comment by Iceberg

7 September 2006 @ 7:50 pm

I’ll tell you WHY…

Comment by James

7 September 2006 @ 8:39 pm

I have all the golf balls you need. I’m down to around 1,000 or so (had over 10,000 at one time). Used to live near a driving range. Take them if you want them and raise hell. I’m only forty minutes out of Busan. Come and pick up a backpack full and wage war on the way home.

Comment by Jeff in Korea

7 September 2006 @ 10:27 pm

ICEBERG, You have a good point. But your suggestion to throw rocks rather than golf balls doesn’t address my real concerns. I don’t think the moral and ethical considerations revolve around the question of how much should be spent on projectiles as much as they revolve around the issue of whether I should be throwing things in the first place. The cost of projectiles doesn’t make in any more or less right. Besides rocks are odd-shaped and that can screw up your aim.

JAMES: Now there’s an idea. One that I like more than Iceberg’s idea. A big bag full of free golf balls to hurl to my heart’s content sounds very pleasing….and that frightens me. If I thought it might be a bad idea to begin with, the fact that it is more appealing to me now means it is probably more wrong, but I still can’t see how. (by the way, I didn’t know you were that close to Pusan. Where are you? And what did you do with 9,000 golf balls? They don’t make good fishing lures.)

Come on. You guys aren’t helping me here. I’m supposed to have a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, not just a big collection of devils.

Comment by blair

8 September 2006 @ 8:40 am

Okay, here’s the angellic commentary: if I am not for myself, who will be? We’re talking about a way to communicate a life threatening breach in ettiquette. If you were a cop you could give a ticket for about \50k. A ding would be the equivelent of a citizens citation.

Hey man, sticks get lots of good attention from most cars. Trucks won’t notice a damned thing, maybe not even golf balls. Revenge can be gotten with wood screws though. From bitter personal experience, the front tires kick em into a standing position long enough to sink into the back ones.

What about silly putty or clay? Stuff won’t actually damage a car, but it sure makes a noise when it hits metal. Hard to get off of glass, too.

Comment by 74

8 September 2006 @ 8:45 am

Jeff, The people hit by them may then decide that motorcyclists should be attacked in return. If you are going to escalate, fine; but keep in mind that YOU are the most vulnerable on the road. The resulting crash after a golf ball (or other object)bounces of you wouldn’t be too good for you or your bike.

Comment by Drambuie_man

10 September 2006 @ 2:32 am

Blair> Please leave me your address so I can send you a sense of humor.

Comment by dg611

12 September 2006 @ 3:01 pm

I tried several times…but for some reason it doesn’t post…i’ll try again…

Here’s a friendly suggestion that i have wanted to do for some time but the problem is that i drive a car now and it would be a little difficult…though i really want to.

You could go to one of those places that makes stickers and have them make you some stickers that say something in Korean like:

HEY!! YOU ALMOST CAUSED A POTENTIALLY FATAL ACCIDENT! IF YOU CANNOT RESPECT THE RULES OF THE ROAD AND RESPECT OTHER DRIVERS THEN SELL YOUR VEHICLE AND STOP DRIVING ALTOGETHER.

The sticker’s effect would be considerably safer than the golfball idea since you could potentially hurt other innocent drivers (if there is such a thing here) or worse, a pedestrian….I’m sure you wouldn’t want that on your concience….but the sticker…placed on any window of the vehicle requires the driver to physically get out and look at it and remove it…thus adding to the level of anger….
anyway…whaddyathink?

Comment by Ivan

15 September 2006 @ 12:18 pm

Aren’t there spurs or spikes for motorcycle boots that are unofficially designed for punching holes in car doors?

Comment by Jeff in Korea

15 September 2006 @ 12:22 pm

Ivan,

Oooo… I like that one… spikes. My boots do a good job of getting peoples attention. But spikes are an idea. I like the Ben Hur flavor of that.

Maybe I could take the idea a bit further and mount a crossbow or two to my handlebars.

Comment by kwandongbrian

15 September 2006 @ 8:53 pm

As a pedestrian, I’ve often thought about carrying a life-like baby doll to throw in the air and on to a hood in mock surprise as a car runs a red light. I chose not to because I am mature enough to realize that the sudden swerving and such would be likely to cause more than phycological damage. Not that long ago, I wouldn’t have thought things through - marriage does that, I guess.

I kicked a van running a red light with me in the middle of the road. The guy didn’t stop - which I think is lucky for me because foreigners rarely win street meelees or court battles here - so I’ve heard.

I am not a strong man and I have a terrible arm for throwing things. “By leaving the cyclist less room, drivers reduce the safety margin that cyclists need to deal with obstacles in the road, such as drain covers and potholes, as well as the margin for error in their own judgements.

“We know helmets are useful in low-speed falls, and so definitely good for children, but whether they offer any real protection to somebody struck by a car is very controversial. Would there be anything more than a loud noise from a thrown golfball?

I have wondered in the past if laws could be adjusted so that everyone were given one rock a month to be thrown when needed.

Comment by kwandongbrian

15 September 2006 @ 8:56 pm

Sorry - I think I pasted a quote from another project I was working on. I wanted to say:

I am not a strong man and I have a terrible arm for throwing things. Would there be anything more than a loud noise from a thrown golfball?

- I did not intend to post about helmets here - alhtough it may be appropriate because this blog does discuss their use.

Comment by relayer77

28 January 2007 @ 12:09 pm

I’ve been over this rumination myself, as I drive a lot in Korea for my job. The paintball gun? Bad. Big, sure to escalate, draws too much attention. The golf ball? Not bad…but actually doing damage to the car leaves you liable for serious payback on the spot or in a court… the solution?

drumroll please

the 10 won coin. At short distance your aim is true.. the mark is left on the car, but it’s small.. it’s LOUD… and it’s an annoying, useless coin that you want to get rid of. I’ve been using them happily for some time.. woohoo….

Ok I admit I still fantasize about the paintball gun.

Comment by Jeff in Korea

28 January 2007 @ 1:43 pm

Relayer,

I like that,in principle…

It may work for people driving for cars. However, as a biker, it would be difficult for me to fish for 10 won coins while driving and wearing gloves, while it would be easy to grab a golf ball from a pouch.

Also, I would have to stock up on the OLD 10 won coins. The brand new smaller ones are made of incredibly light aluminum (a lot like the old 1 won coins if anyone remembers those).

Comment by Paw

11 September 2007 @ 9:49 pm

Hej Jeff

I can see it’s been a while since someone left you a note. I’m living in Busan and is considering going for a MC card. It’s not very uplifting to read about your accident and kamikazedrivers. Are you still in Busan?

Comment by Bob Bitchen

16 February 2008 @ 5:48 am

Feces. Won’t break anyone’s window, but will convey the desired message. Plus who wants to mess with a guy that would do that?

Comment by Silly Putty

21 February 2008 @ 5:46 pm

I may be too late to offer valid advice on this, but I would certainly take the silly putty route - the evidence will have bounced off out of sight before anyone knows what’s going on.

Comment by silentgrayfellow

29 September 2008 @ 3:55 pm

If you want to be cheap, modeling clay. Make some balls of clay ahead of time and stick them on your bike within easy reach. Then just grab one an lob it as needed.

Comment by Jeff in Korea

29 September 2008 @ 4:14 pm

silentgrayfellow:

AWESOME idea! That is a totally done deal! Less obvious that golf balls… less damage to the car, but still gets the point across.. cheap too. AWESOME! Buying some clay on the way home tonight.