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Chronic inefficiency in emergency management paralyzes the country¡¯s expressways whenever it snows heavily, and this year has been no exception. Traffic on highways in the southwestern region, which saw up to 45 cm of snow on Wednesday, came to a standstill even though the National Meteorological Administration had issued a warning of heavy snow of up to 30 cm the previous day. Some thousands of drivers, who had paid a toll to use the highways, had to sit in their stationary cars in the bitter cold or pick their way through deep snow to find shelter.
In March last year, about 10,000 vehicles were stranded in up to 40 cm of snow. In January 2001 too, thousands of drivers stranded in Daegwallyeong, Gangwon Province had to abandon their cars and walk.
Drivers stuck in snow on highways across the country for some 20 hours last year have filed seven lawsuits nationwide for a combined W2.95 billion (US$2.95 million) in damages against the Korea Highway Corporation (KHC). Seoul and Daegu district courts already ruled in favor of the drivers.
On Thursday, the KHC homepage was snowed under with messages slamming it for failing to take preventative steps such as clearing away snow and controlling the flow of cars onto the highways. A Netizen who said they were stranded on a highway for more than 10 hours said, "Did the KHC want drivers to wait silently locked into their cars until the snow melted even when they ran out of gas and were about to freeze to death?"
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Vehicles creep along an icy road in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province on Thursday after record snowfall blanketed the country¡¯s southwestern areas.
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The Ministry of Construction and Transportation tried to pass the buck to drivers and the weather. "We responded rapidly to the heavy snow but had a difficult time grasping the whole situation because it snowed over such a large area,¡± it said, adding it also had problems clearing snow because some drivers abandoned their cars.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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