Fight illegal parking

By Park Moo-jong

It was a September day in 1982, 35 years ago when I visited Bern, the capital of Switzerland, on my way home from my first overseas trip to Scandinavian countries. The small Swiss city was a surprise to me because of its traffic.

Parking, in particular, was so impressive with almost no cars parked illegally anywhere. At that time, Seoul had not yet experienced parking difficulties as there were not many private cars.

I asked a city official about the "perfect" parking order. She proudly said, "All citizens remain vigilant at all times against illegally parked cars. If one finds such a car, he or she immediately reports it to police and the car is towed away in a couple of minutes. So the streets are free from illegally parked vehicles."

Thirty-five years later in December of 2017, more than 20 vehicles were parked on narrow streets leading to an eight-story fitness center housing gyms and public sauna baths in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, a week ago.

The illegally parked cars, locked and side-braked ― no wonder ― blocked fire engines from getting to the building that was on fire, which cost 29 lives, mostly women enjoying the sauna on the second floor and injuring 36 others.

And a doctor comes after death without fail.

The Republic of Korea is a paradise for illegal parking.

Whenever a fire breaks out, everybody talks about the need to stop illegal parking but to no avail every time.

When it comes to road traffic in South Korea, there is no other way to describe it but as wild and chaotic. The way our drivers park their cars is so "fantastic" to the eyes of foreigners.

In Korea it is easy to find cars parked or deserted in fire lanes, outside the lines of parking spaces, in the middle of pedestrian crosswalks, in the right lane of a road and even on sidewalks.

Our motorists used to become magicians. They can turn four-lane roads into two-lane ones by parking their cars in the right lane in each direction.

In Seoul, for instance, there are many two-lane roads in residential areas. Consider the two-lane road going from the Hyehwa-dong roundabout to the Seongbuk-dong area. Along both sides are restaurants, supermarkets, drug stores, hair shops and others waiting for customers who have to stop or park for a few minutes on the street.

Cars coming from behind have no choice, if the drivers want to go on, but to drive over the centerline ― a grave traffic violation. Otherwise, the driver must wait until the owner of the illegally parked car shows up after shopping.

I asked a traffic official: "If I had to drive across the centerline due to an illegally parked car blocking the road and crashed into a car coming from the opposite direction but staying in its lane, who is responsible?"

He said, "Of course, you are. You drove over the centerline."

"No, this is unfair. The illegally parked car contributed to the accident by blocking the road," I insisted.

He said, "No, this is the law."

The reality is: When a car is parked such that it is blocking traffic on a one-lane road or a busy street, Korean drivers simply go around without reporting it to officials of district offices. What is bizarre enough is that Korean police have no right to control illegal parking. Only city officials can issue tickets.

What's deplorable is the way officials in charge of checking illegal parking react when a driver or a passenger point out that a car is parked in the fire lane. Most of them would shrug and say, "So? No fire."

Of course, a passerby or a driver can take a photo of a car illegally parked and send it to the authorities or report it by phone like the Swiss do. But few do.

In the wake of the Jecheon fire, video footage from Canada, titled "Dignity of a Canadian Fire Engine," is rapidly going viral on social media. A fire truck entered a narrow alley in Montreal. But it could not proceed due to a police car and illegally parked cars.

Without any hesitation, the truck pushed the police car, secured space and dashed forward. In the process, the bumper of a BMW parked at the right was destroyed. Firefighters in advanced countries such as Canada, the United States, Japan and Germany are not responsible for any damage to others' cars when doing their duty.

Our firefighters are obliged to compensate for such damage. What a stupid regulation!

According to government data, more than 2,340 vehicles were issued tickets for illegal parking in fire lanes or near fireplugs.

A ruling party lawmaker initiated an amendment to the Road Transportation Law featuring the designation of "Special No Parking and Stopping Zone" for the passage of fire engines and doubling the fines.

But the bill has been waiting for deliberation at the National Assembly for nine months and such a tragic incident proving that South Korea is yet to become an advanced country took place in Jecheon.

I found an "amazing" website that sells stickers designed to be attached to cars parked with little to no consideration for others: Parking vigilante Korea. One of the stickers reads: "Congratulations. You've been chosen as a perfect example of a self-centered, entitled, asshole driver."

Others read: "I'm too fucking stupid to park within the lines (taking up two spaces)," and "I crave attention so much that I park in fire lanes (blocking fire trucks)."

Park Moo-jong is a standing adviser of The Korea Times. He served as the president-publisher of the nation's first English newspaper founded in 1951 from 2004 to 2014 after he worked as a reporter of the daily since 1974. He can be reached at moojong@ktimes.com or emjei29@gmail.com