Coupang News

Imagine you’re driving a truck down a road covered in marble, curving to the right. From all sides, sprinklers cover the road with water, all but eliminating whatever traction you had left. If you hit the brakes while passing through this section, what will happen to the truck?

The Hwaseong Traffic Safety Experience Center in Gyeonggi-do, operated by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority (KTSA), allows people to safely experience this scenario of driving during heavy rain in a controlled environment. Earlier this month, 20 traffic safety managers from Coupang were invited to the center by the KTSA, the first such invitation of a private-sector company.

 Coupang’s traffic safety managers practicing driving through slippery roads

In March, Coupang was recognized as one of the leading Korean companies driving the country’s traffic safety culture, signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the KTSA. The all-day training session, conducted by Associate Professor Sang-ha Lee, was one of the initial events planned through the partnership.

“Coupang has the highest safety standards as one of Korea’s leading companies in traffic safety,” said Sang-mok Nam, a manager at the KTSA. “This event was planned with the goal of creating a safer road traffic culture through the cooperation between the KTSA and Coupang.”

The trainings covered a variety of topics through both experiential field training and lectures, from minimizing accidents from blind spots and driving best practices. Even though the Coupang employees attending the sessions were all experts in the traffic safety field, they participated enthusiastically, honing their experience in the Hwaseong Traffic Safety Experience Center’s state-of-the-art facilities. 

This included the heavy rain scenario from the beginning of the article, which brings us back to the question—what would happen to the truck, and how would you avoid an accident in that case?

According to Associate Professor Lee, on a curved road in slippery conditions, stepping on the brakes even slightly could cause the vehicle to either understeer or oversteer. In extreme cases, you would lose control of the truck entirely, with no way to respond due to the lack of traction. “This is why drivers must take precautions in advance to prevent such situations from occurring,” said Associate Professor Lee, driving slowly to avoid stepping on the brakes.

At Coupang, our safety motto is “Safety Now, Not Later.” We will continue working closely with governments, NGOs, and other organizations to continue leading a culture of traffic safety and secure the health and safety of our employees, customers, and community members alike.