Guide for New Drivers

🪑Seating position and mirrors

• Seat distance: your knee should stay slightly bent when the brake pedal is fully pressed.
• Seatback: with back and shoulders against the seat, your elbows should be slightly bent when holding the top of the wheel. Reclining too far slows your reactions.
• Head restraint: its center should sit between eye and ear level. It protects your neck if you are rear-ended.
• Steering wheel: hold it at roughly 9 and 3 o'clock. One-handed driving slows your response to surprises.
• Rear-view mirror: set it to show the whole rear window.
• Side mirrors: show a sliver of your own car on the inner edge, with the horizon around the middle. Blind spots remain, so turn your head before changing lanes.
• Seat belt: shoulder belt across the shoulder and middle of the chest, not the neck; lap belt over the hips, not the stomach. Everyone in every seat must buckle up.

🔍Checks before you drive

Before getting in, walk around the car: check for flat tires, oil or water leaking underneath, and children or objects nearby. In parking lots especially, a child may be behind the car.

After starting, make sure warning lights go out and you have enough fuel. Set your navigation destination before moving, and do not touch your phone while driving. In Korea, holding and using a phone while driving is prohibited (exceptions include when the car is stopped, emergency reports, and hands-free devices).

With your foot on the brake, select a gear, confirm the parking brake is released, then move off.

📏Following distance and speed

Korea's Road Traffic Act requires enough distance to avoid a collision if the car ahead stops suddenly. An easy way to judge it is the two-second rule: when the car ahead passes a fixed object such as a sign, count 'one, two'. If two seconds pass before you reach that point, you have at least the minimum gap. In rain, snow or at night, at least double it.

For beginners, being much slower or faster than the flow is risky. Match the flow within the speed limit, and use the right lane if keeping up is hard. If someone tailgates you, do not speed up suddenly; let them pass when it is safe.

🅿️Parking: reverse and parallel

• Reverse parking: drive past the space and stop nearly at right angles to it, turn the wheel fully toward the space and reverse slowly. Watch the lines and neighboring cars in both side mirrors, and when the car is parallel to the space, straighten the wheel and back straight in.
• Parallel parking: pull up alongside the car in front of the space so your rear bumper lines up with theirs. Turn the wheel toward the curb and reverse; when the car is at about 45 degrees, straighten the wheel, and once the front is in, turn the other way to bring the car parallel to the road.
• Rear cameras and sensors are aids only. Low curbs, short posts or someone walking past may not show well on screen, so combine them with mirrors and direct checks.
• If it is hard, practice in a wide, quiet lot, and at first choose spaces with empty spots on both sides or at the end of a row.
• When getting out, put the car in P (first or reverse in a manual) and set the parking brake. Before opening the door, check for bicycles or motorcycles coming from behind.

🌙The new-driver sticker and night driving

In Korea, a 'new driver' sticker is not currently required by law; using one is your choice. If you do, place it where following drivers can read it easily and where it does not block your view. The Road Traffic Act defines a 'novice driver' as someone within two years of first getting a license.

At night, turn on headlights as soon as it starts getting dark. Switch from high to low beam when there is oncoming traffic or when following closely behind another car. Do not look straight into oncoming headlights; keep your gaze slightly toward the right lane line.

At night, pedestrians in dark clothing are hard to see. There is also an effect where a person in the middle of the road seems to vanish when headlights from both directions overlap, so slow down especially in residential areas and alleys.

❗Common beginner mistakes

• Signaling too late or not at all — signal well before changing lanes.
• Changing lanes without checking the blind spot — after the mirrors, turn your head once more.
• Driving off with the parking brake on, or getting out with the car in D.
• Hesitating and stopping inside an intersection — decide your route before entering; if unsure, go past and come back.
• Changing lanes abruptly after missing a navigation instruction — if you miss a turn, simply reroute.
• Pushing on while drowsy, tired or after taking medication.

💬FAQ