If you have driven an automobile, you have probably been caught at least once by a speed camera for driving over the speed limit. Speed cameras catch vehicles that violate the speed limit, regardless of the type of car and its driver’s socio-economic ranking. It could perhaps be said that speed cameras are the most equitable type of law enforcement. Moreover, speed limits are enforced not with regard to which lane you are driving in, but with regard to the section of road you are driving through.
North Korean exile Jung Jin-hwan comes from Pyongyang. He had this to say about the South Korean speed limit regulations. “After adjusting to my new life in South Korea, I went to the beach with some friends. I found it very strange that here, if the speed limit is 100km, everyone going through that section of road must abide by the limit, and if the limit is 90 km, likewise. In North Korea, each lane has a different speed limit, regardless of what section of road you are on. The first lane is reserved for senior officials, so they can drive at whatever speed they want. It amazed me that in South Korea, regardless of who you are, you can be reported for violating the speed limit.
Driving in North Korea, the speed limit regulations change depending on which lane you are driving in. As shown in the picture above, the limits are 70 km/h, 60 km/h and 40 km/h for the first, second, and third lanes, respectively. The North Korean authorities enforce its rigid social hierarchy not only through having separate lanes for different classes, but also through an explicit signposting of separate speed limits.
For those living in the ‘third lane’, not only is there no possibility to change lanes, there is no freedom even to drive fast. In most of the world, speed limits exist for safety considerations. In North Korea, speed limits exist only to reinforce the social hierarchy that one is born into.
