South Korean court allows taxi drivers to have mobile TV on dashboards

[alp227]

S Korea taxi drivers can watch TV
BBC News staff report

Cab drivers in South Korea can continue to have televisions on their dashboards, despite the potential risk of crashing, a court has ruled.

The ruling comes after a taxi driver challenged a $507 (£311) fine imposed by the local authorities in the capital, Seoul.

The city's tortuous congestion led taxi drivers to install new mobile TV systems in an attempt to beat boredom.

Watching TV while driving was a factor in 200 accidents last year, police say.

Three people were killed and 351 were injured in those accidents, news agency Agence France Presse reported.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8339680.stm

[DireStrike]

1. Ok guys, I know the Starcraft world championship is on.... but exercise some caution!

[virgogal]

2. Madness!

[jberryhill]

3. It's Freaking Amazing Watching The Traffic In Seoul...

LOTS of drivers in Seoul are watching TV.

I had a cab driver last week watching a baseball game.

Weird.

[alp227]

4. So apparently it's safe to watch TV while driving a taxi

Just because of "heavy traffic". Wow how bad does traffic have to be in Seoul?

Well does the law also ban texting and cell phone use too? Otherwise it's an incoherent standard. In the US, if a taxi driver were caught doing so even in a traffic jam, the cops would rush to write a ticket and get some money.

[jberryhill]

5. Ummm no, it's not safe to watch tv and drive anywhere

If it were safe, it would be neither "amazing" or "weird" that a lot of people watch tv's on their dashboard in Seoul. But I guess one can't be too clear on DU.

[951-Riverside]

6. Its amazing how people get so upset over televisions in the front seat of cars but...

Are perfectly okay with GPS systems.