Episode #145: The Roundabout

I am in a hotel room in Seogwipo, standing on top of a table, tackle out, staring down at the roundabout, 13-floors beneath me. I can’t stop staring. Transfixed. In the UK, you approach a roundabout, brake and wait for a gap in the flow of traffic so you can safely pull out and join the madness. If you’re on the roundabout, you have to keep an eye out on the odd crazy loon who pulls out in front of you, but it’s rare. Not in Seogwipo. Nobody brakes on the slip road. Cars, vans, motorcycles, buses - they all drive straight onto the roundabout resulting in a constant car jam as the vehicles on the roundabout have to brake incessantly. Everyone beeps, angry that they have been cut off, and yet the beepers behave the same way. It’s nuts. And the solution is simple. Or is it? I spoke to my taxi driver, Andy, about the mayhem. Andy agreed with me that it was nuts and the UK way of doing things would make more sense, would speed up the flow, and result in fewer accidents. Andy then drove straight onto the roundabout ignoring everything I said. Imagine you're Andy, and you want to be someone that doesn't drink alcohol. I sit you down and explain things to you. You tell me that I am making total sense. Then you walk into a bar, and everyone is drinking. The cars entering the roundabout are people who drink. There are too many of them. It doesn't matter how much education we provide; people will keep to the status quo because there is too much pain and suffering to change in the short-term, irrespective of the long-term benefits. Don’t be a Korean driver. Be the one vehicle that tries something different. Join us at: www.thetruthaboutalcohol.co.uk