By Park Moo-jong
A few days ago, I learned newly a coined Korean word from an article in a vernacular newspaper: "jarani" comprised of "ja" from "jajeongo" (bicycle) and "rani" from "gorani" (water deer). It means a cyclist who comes out in front of a car all of a sudden like the water deer.
The term was created to explain road-kill, an animal that has been struck and killed by motor vehicle on highways.
The biggest victim in Korea is gorani. Police statistics show a total of 1,990 water deer were killed on highways from 2012 to 2016, compared to 115 boars.
The animal tends to dash into the light of vehicles at night rather than avoiding it, causing unexpected crashes with the cars at the risk of the wildlife.
According to the daily's story, many urban motorists have a fear of road-kill because of jarani even in a broad daylight.
Biking is growing in popularity here like elsewhere in the world thanks to the people's health concerns and increasing leisure activities, with the number of fraternal biking clubs on a steady rise for their regular group tours on two wheels.
People who ride bicycles more than once a month number 13.4 million, accounting for 33.5 percent of the population, according to statistics from the Korea Expressway Corporation Research Institute.
The cycling boom is well proven by the fact that 3.3 million people or 6.6 percent of people bike every day. But accidents have been taking place just as much, recording nearly 15,000 cases annually on average over the past five years. The death toll was 276 in 2015. More serious is that more than half of cyclists suffer injuries of various sorts.
Quite naturally, how to secure bicycle safety has become an important question among not only them but also the related government authorities.
Indeed, we have regulations about cycling in the Road Transportation Law, though cyclists do not need a license like that for drivers of motor vehicles. But they are almost dead ones with no enforcement.
When it comes to bicycling, Amsterdam of the Netherlands comes to my mind first. What impressed me first when I visited the beautiful city (three times now) were the Dutch cyclists ― young and old, men and women ― and the tourists enjoying cycling.
In particular, the traffic signs exclusive for cyclists, not to speak of their lanes, were such an envious infrastructure in the healthy country.
No doubt. Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world and the majority of its citizens have spent their lives on two wheels since they were infants. Thanks to the many bike paths in the city, pedal power is all they need to uncover the city's gems on their own.
The narrow, winding streets of the historic 17th-century city center are definitely best navigated by bike. And with up to 400 kilometers of bicycle paths leading just about everywhere in town, it's no wonder that Amsterdam is a true cycling city.
However, what about Seoul? The city government has been interested in encouraging citizens to use bikes and indeed built some exclusive paths on the right side of a few roads in the city center. But few cyclists use the lanes in front of Gwanghwamun and next to the Samcheong-dong roads. What a mere display!
I regularly drive the Jangchungdan-ro flanked by the National Theater of Korea, Banyan & Tree, the Korea Freedom Center, Seoul Club and the Shilla Hotel in the evening and used to find a "very dangerous" thing.
In the darkness, several cyclists were riding on the right side of a road with no bike lane, with some of them not wearing luminous clothes. There was nothing for me to do but slow down my car speed drastically or use the first lane. The city government should build an exclusive bike lane in such places instead of city center locations.
The Road Transportation Law rules that cyclists should get off their bike and wheel it when they cross the street at any crosswalk. But almost none do this. It is not an exaggeration to say that all "bikers" still cycle over pedestrian crossings.
But the cyclists can never rival the motorcyclists who drive to cross the street at crosswalks with no hesitation. The two are also almost the same in that they drive their machines even on footpaths.
Complaints are on the rise regarding cyclists who disregard the rules of the road, including riding the wrong way and using footpaths and crossing the street via pedestrian crossings.
For all intents and purposes, bicycles are considered vehicles like motorcycles and must therefore adhere to proper road etiquette and laws. It is needless to say that drinking and biking is also a crime
I asked a German friend about cycling in his country. He said that children there become acquainted with bikes at a very young age and practically before they can walk, toddlers can be seen scooting around on pedal-free wooden bike-like constructions known literally as a "run wheel" in German.
Then, a few years down the track, police officers come to schools to guide eight-to-nine year-olds through an official "bicycle license" program, where kids learn traffic rules and etiquette, according to him.
This shows how important childhood education is in our life. This reminds us of a proverb that "what is learned in the cradle is carried to tomb." Old habits die hard.
Now is the time to turn attention to road safety and etiquette as more cyclists are taking to the streets than ever before, thus to welcome the biking boom.
Park Moo-jong is a standing advisor of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper founded in1951 from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter for the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com
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The term was created to explain road-kill, an animal that has been struck and killed by motor vehicle on highways.
The biggest victim in Korea is gorani. Police statistics show a total of 1,990 water deer were killed on highways from 2012 to 2016, compared to 115 boars.
The animal tends to dash into the light of vehicles at night rather than avoiding it, causing unexpected crashes with the cars at the risk of the wildlife.
According to the daily's story, many urban motorists have a fear of road-kill because of jarani even in a broad daylight.
Biking is growing in popularity here like elsewhere in the world thanks to the people's health concerns and increasing leisure activities, with the number of fraternal biking clubs on a steady rise for their regular group tours on two wheels.
People who ride bicycles more than once a month number 13.4 million, accounting for 33.5 percent of the population, according to statistics from the Korea Expressway Corporation Research Institute.
The cycling boom is well proven by the fact that 3.3 million people or 6.6 percent of people bike every day. But accidents have been taking place just as much, recording nearly 15,000 cases annually on average over the past five years. The death toll was 276 in 2015. More serious is that more than half of cyclists suffer injuries of various sorts.
Quite naturally, how to secure bicycle safety has become an important question among not only them but also the related government authorities.
Indeed, we have regulations about cycling in the Road Transportation Law, though cyclists do not need a license like that for drivers of motor vehicles. But they are almost dead ones with no enforcement.
When it comes to bicycling, Amsterdam of the Netherlands comes to my mind first. What impressed me first when I visited the beautiful city (three times now) were the Dutch cyclists ― young and old, men and women ― and the tourists enjoying cycling.
In particular, the traffic signs exclusive for cyclists, not to speak of their lanes, were such an envious infrastructure in the healthy country.
No doubt. Amsterdam is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in the world and the majority of its citizens have spent their lives on two wheels since they were infants. Thanks to the many bike paths in the city, pedal power is all they need to uncover the city's gems on their own.
The narrow, winding streets of the historic 17th-century city center are definitely best navigated by bike. And with up to 400 kilometers of bicycle paths leading just about everywhere in town, it's no wonder that Amsterdam is a true cycling city.
However, what about Seoul? The city government has been interested in encouraging citizens to use bikes and indeed built some exclusive paths on the right side of a few roads in the city center. But few cyclists use the lanes in front of Gwanghwamun and next to the Samcheong-dong roads. What a mere display!
I regularly drive the Jangchungdan-ro flanked by the National Theater of Korea, Banyan & Tree, the Korea Freedom Center, Seoul Club and the Shilla Hotel in the evening and used to find a "very dangerous" thing.
In the darkness, several cyclists were riding on the right side of a road with no bike lane, with some of them not wearing luminous clothes. There was nothing for me to do but slow down my car speed drastically or use the first lane. The city government should build an exclusive bike lane in such places instead of city center locations.
The Road Transportation Law rules that cyclists should get off their bike and wheel it when they cross the street at any crosswalk. But almost none do this. It is not an exaggeration to say that all "bikers" still cycle over pedestrian crossings.
But the cyclists can never rival the motorcyclists who drive to cross the street at crosswalks with no hesitation. The two are also almost the same in that they drive their machines even on footpaths.
Complaints are on the rise regarding cyclists who disregard the rules of the road, including riding the wrong way and using footpaths and crossing the street via pedestrian crossings.
For all intents and purposes, bicycles are considered vehicles like motorcycles and must therefore adhere to proper road etiquette and laws. It is needless to say that drinking and biking is also a crime
I asked a German friend about cycling in his country. He said that children there become acquainted with bikes at a very young age and practically before they can walk, toddlers can be seen scooting around on pedal-free wooden bike-like constructions known literally as a "run wheel" in German.
Then, a few years down the track, police officers come to schools to guide eight-to-nine year-olds through an official "bicycle license" program, where kids learn traffic rules and etiquette, according to him.
This shows how important childhood education is in our life. This reminds us of a proverb that "what is learned in the cradle is carried to tomb." Old habits die hard.
Now is the time to turn attention to road safety and etiquette as more cyclists are taking to the streets than ever before, thus to welcome the biking boom.
Park Moo-jong is a standing advisor of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper founded in1951 from 2004 to 2014 after working as a reporter for the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com
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