If you are wondering if the TV watching cab drivers in Seoul are legal or not, now you know:

(Image from here.)

A SOUTH Korean court has rejected an attempt to prosecute Seoul taxi drivers for one of their scariest habits – watching television while driving.

The Seoul Administrative Court yesteray ordered a district office in the capital to cancel a fine of 600,000 won ($560) imposed on a cabbie.

The city government last year passed a local ordinance banning the use of digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) systems while driving.

But the court ruled that the ordinance, which allows local authorities to regulate public transport, is illegal because it is based on a 1961 law that was later superseded.

A minority of taxi drivers in the congested capital convert dashboard screens used for global positioning systems so they can receive TV programs.

More than 21 million DMB devices have been sold since South Korea started the world’s first such service in 2005, according to a state committee.

The number of DMB users soared to 17.25 million by the end of 2008.

Police statistics show that watching the mobile devices caused 200 traffic incidents last year, leaving two dead and 351 injured.  [AFP]

Really when you think about it these accident numbers are very low, which makes me wonder how accurate they really are.

Anyway my all-time favorite cab driver was one in Uijongbu who had a karaoke system hooked up in his cab.  He even had a mini-disco ball hanging from the roof.  He liked picking up us GI’s because he would have us sing one of the English songs.  Hopefully they don’t ban karaoke cab drivers in the future.