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🔥Korea is fining drivers who switch off the blinker while waiting to turn left

7SoominAm2026.10.15 15:23👁 1958💬 27♥ 58

Police here are running a crackdown on turn signals until December 31, and the part everyone is fighting about is the left-turn-only lane. Turns out you're supposed to keep the left blinker on the whole time, even while you're stopped at a red light in a lane that can only go left. Signal 30m before the turn on normal roads, 100m on highways, and keep it on until the turn is done.

If a cop catches you it's a 30,000 won fine, and if someone reports you with dashcam video the car owner gets a 40,000 won penalty. Police say there were almost 1.5 million dashcam reports for this in the last three years, and only about 75% of drivers signal when turning left at intersections. Korean drivers are not happy. A few comments from a car community: "People who don't signal, are your fingers broken?" "The front car and the last car keeping it on, fine. But everyone waiting in the middle too? Turning it off was manners for the car behind." "Just follow the law. 30m before, keep it on until you finish." Back home in Manila nobody would even notice a blinker in that traffic, so a country fining people for it feels almost luxurious. Still, keeping it on in a turn lane is one of those rules I'd actually follow, because it costs nothing.

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Comments 27

7Dahye2026.10.15

30,000 won to learn there's a lever on the steering wheel. mine has been unemployed for years

7Kettlecorn2026.10.15

1.5 million reports means a lot of people film their commute for sport. how is everyone's dashcam battery

7Dahye2026.10.16

leaving it on like the oven is exactly it. you check three times at the next red light that you're not about to start a fire

7Dahye2026.10.15

honked at for both is the full Seoul driving experience. the blinker is just another opinion on the road

7sleepy_orbit2026.10.16

Aussie here. Leaving the indicator on while stopped feels like leaving the oven on. Will comply, will feel weird about it.

7orbit_kid2026.10.15

I've been honked at for turning it OFF and for leaving it ON. Seoul traffic has no winning move

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8Dabin2026.10.15

honked at for both is just driving in a big city. I'm scared to even try it there

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7Dahye2026.10.15

honked at for both is the full Seoul driving experience. the blinker is just another opinion on the road

7Nari2026.10.15

Busan drivers are going to fund the entire police budget by Christmas

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7nightbus_92026.10.15

Busan drivers will treat the fine as a subscription fee

7cloudberry2026.10.15

my father-in-law in Daegu treats the blinker like it costs money per click. sending him this

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7SoominOP2026.10.15

send him the 40,000 won part, that's the language that works

6dumpling.exe2026.10.15

1.5 million dashcam reports though. that's a whole hobby people have

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7Kettlecorn2026.10.15

1.5 million reports means a lot of people film their commute for sport. how is everyone's dashcam battery

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7cloudberry2026.10.15

my father-in-law's dashcam has more footage than his phone gallery. now I know where the 1.5 million comes from

7Junseo2026.10.15

the middle-car argument is kinda fair tho, a wall of blinking lights at night is annoying

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7Dahye2026.10.15

annoying beats getting rear-ended because nobody knew you were turning

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7Geonwoo2026.10.15

a wall of blinking lights beats the silent turn nobody saw coming. dumb system, but it's the one we have

6moss.and.rain2026.10.15

wait, so you leave the blinker on the whole time in a left-turn lane? I'd have been fined in my first week

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7Nari2026.10.15

yes, keep it on the whole time. feels wrong the first time, then you notice everyone else in that lane is doing it

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7Dahye2026.10.15

fined in your first week is Seoul's orientation package

7Dahye2026.10.15

30,000 won to learn there's a lever on the steering wheel. mine has been unemployed for years

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7Geonwoo2026.10.15

unemployed lever is now the best defence of Korean drivers I've heard. no further questions

7Nari2026.10.15

Keeping the blinker on at a red light in a left-turn lane feels odd until you realise the driver behind has no idea if you're turning. Then it's manners with a fine attached.

7sleepy_orbit2026.10.16

Aussie here. Leaving the indicator on while stopped feels like leaving the oven on. Will comply, will feel weird about it.

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7Dahye2026.10.16

leaving it on like the oven is exactly it. you check three times at the next red light that you're not about to start a fire

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7Nari2026.10.16

the oven comparison is right. first red light i left it on i kept looking for smoke

7paperlantern2026.10.16

In a left-turn-only lane everyone behind you already knows where you're going. Fining people for not announcing the obvious feels like a lot, but I'll comply with a straight face.

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7Dahye2026.10.16

keeping it on at a red light also tells the driver behind that I'm not scrolling my phone. fine, I'll take the lever over 30,000 won

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Korea is fining drivers who switch off the blinker while waiting to turn left · KOMMU.LIVE