Anyone wanna drive in China?

You first. OMG..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QESfEd180rQ&feature=player_embedded

I just can't get over the number of times in this clip where neither party makes even the slightest attempt to avoid the crash. No brakes, no steering no nuthin, just ride off into destiny. Good thing these are all lowspeed benders, I don't wanna think about what the freeways are like. It's the bike-on-bike collisions that'll make you laugh to tears though...

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought Americans were bad drivers.

Right of way determined not by normal laws, but by the laws of physics.

HOLY HELL, I really don't want to bring up stereotypes but....

I liked the random guy taking a wee at the side of a busy intersection around 1:30 in.

Didn't notice a single cell phone either. I'm sure it hasn't improved since that video(2006) was released.

Dude, I HAVE driven in China. that was nothing.

I drove from Nan Chang down to Feng Chung (about an hour and half). Lane markers are flatly ignored. Lights and signs are optional at best. I was like playing a 3 hour game of chicken....

the freeway was marked for 3 lanes. we were 7 wide... including delivery trucks

I don't think I saw a single stop sign anywhere.

China is a bit new to this whole "car" thing....

Still laughing my berkeleying ass off at the dude getting hit at 2:01. There's no freakin' way that wasn't deliberate.

Makes me wonder what the criteria are for getting a license. I envision the new driver showing up at the DMV, being told to go drive around for a few minutes, and IF he makes it back, getting signed off...getting back without obvious damage is good for a CDL?

Talked to an old co-worker after showing him the video. He explained that it isn't a teenaged daughter that gave him white hair, it's going to China and being driven from place to place. Been in more low speed crashes than he cares to remember. And a number of high speed misses.

a car thief or car jacker must not make much a getaway in China. you should be able to run down the street after one!

As a group, they've had to make very few decisions for themselves, the govt. has always told them what to do. Maybe this is a refection of that, maybe their govt. issue "Driver Oversight Chairmen" were off during those hours! ...I'd certainly hope so as no one can be that stupid.

poopshovel wrote: Still laughing my berkeleying ass off at the dude getting hit at 2:01. There's no freakin' way that wasn't deliberate.

+1

Common theme: everyone on two wheels put their feet down in answer to a threat. That's better than brakes?

And that poor guy standing in the middle of the road minding his own business at 2:00 - - Mowed down in slow motion. I think the driver figured V-Tec would get her over the lump.

Maybe all those folks in Floo-Shang NYC aren't all that bad.

Duh - It's an entire country of asian drivers. :)

racerdave600 wrote: As a group, they've had to make very few decisions for themselves, the govt. has always told them what to do. Maybe this is a refection of that, maybe their govt. issue "Driver Oversight Chairmen" were off during those hours! ...I'd certainly hope so as no one can be that stupid.

Well having spent more than an anecdotal amount of time in China I can tell you that for the most part, no one listens to their government. There are TONS of rules, TONS, it is just that no one follows any of them.

The good news is that all the American lawyers are now moving to China.

Not mainland China, but I spent most of a year in Taiwan on a work assignment and I had a Vespa for getting around town. Traffic is blocked? No problem, just drive on the sidewalk. No sidewalk? No problem, just drive in the wrong lane. The one thing you absolutely can't do is look at oncoming traffic before you pull out on the road - you just gun it, and magically the oncoming traffic makes space for you. If you make the mistake of looking, as soon as you make eye contact with anyone you've lost and there's no way they'll let you in.

I was kind of surprised at how quickly I adapted to their free-for-all style. It took a little while to get used to driving sanely when I got back to the US.

Feedyurhed wrote: The good news is that all the American lawyers are now moving to China.

Wouldn't that be great!

I personally think its a self-awareness thing. If you haven't noticed, asians in general don't really care about personal space. They also don't seem to clue into their surroundings too well/seem oblivious (thats my personal assessment). I can only assume for whatever societal reasons that they do not have the proper focus to drive a car.

Case in point, cyclists HITTING CARS. How the hell do you run into a car on your bike? I did it once when I was 12 years old, when I closed my eyes and road down the street at 10km/h (did a face plant into a 70's van that was parked). But to do it while paying attention. Jeebus H....

Problem is the people went from driving oxen to driving datsun in too short of a period! I used to hang at a bar with outdoor seating in SF china town and was surprised I never saw an accident.

According to my driver's ed instructor so many years back, the first town in the USA that featured two cars also featured the first wreck between same. I'm sure that not growing up in a car-based culture has a lot to do with it.

haven't ya'll seen the old black and white videos of cars and people and cattle moving around NYC or a given big city back in the 1910s, now fast forward to China today except make the cars 100 times more powerful and fully enclosed, and put people on bikes and scooters...

edit: found old video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkqz3lpUBp0&feature=related Cop almost gets run down on his bike at 48 seconds...