Chinese (?) intersection mayhem

[ericschand]

Well, I have my own theory on why Chinese drivers are so bad. And Indian.

From the time we are in school, age 5, one of the first things we are taught is
road safety. How to cross the street, where to cross, red/yellow/green lights.
What side of the street do you ride your bike on? Hand signals. What do the
lines on the road mean (basic idea of yellow and white lines).

By the time we get to driving age, we just know. It's natural and obvious.

However, go to China or India. There you don't go for a drivers test! It would
take you months and months to get a drivers license. What you do is go down
to some guy near the drivers test area and pay him for your license. A week
later he shows up with one for you. You never take the written or driving portion
of the exam. You never even go to a driving school, that would be a stupid
waste of money.

The problem this creates is that they don't know any of the rules. What do
those lines mean? What about the traffic lights? Right of way? Shoulder
check? And so on.

You know all those mirrors we have on our cars? The lack of knowlege about
driving is so bad, that in India they will take a poster of their favourite singer,
movie, or sports player, and cut it out and put it over the rear window. The side
mirrors are folded in, they would break off because driving is a matter of an
inch or less there. So what are those mirrors good for then?

This means utter chaos on the roads. If you get up to 40km/hr you're going
too fast! Normal driving is between 20 and 25km/hr. 1st and 2nd gear is all
you are going to need, you don't need 3rd or beyond.

They also employ a nose-first right of way policy. If you get the nose of
your car in there first, it's your right of way. Think F1 or Indy car racing rules,
you can see the nose-first rules there.

This leads to extreme defensive driving, always on the brake, then accelerate,
then immediately brake again. They expect the cars around them to drive into
their lane and get "nose first".

They also deal with ox-carts, cows, pigs, bison and other livestock in the middle
of the roads. People wandering out in the streets. Cars careening towards them
on the wrong side of the road.

I hired a driver to take me around India. He never went over 80km on empty
highways (speed limit 90 or 100). Why? It's just too fast. He literally expected
cars to pop out of nowhere and he'd have to stop.

Now bring those drivers over here. What do you think they will drive like?

ers

[Pinner]

Originally Posted by ericschand

However, go to China or India. There you don't go for a drivers test! It would
take you months and months to get a drivers license. What you do is go down
to some guy near the drivers test area and pay him for your license. A week
later he shows up with one for you. You never take the written or driving portion
of the exam. You never even go to a driving school, that would be a stupid
waste of money.

They pay for their licence and never take a test here too.

[ZedMan]

Not anymore, there aren't any independent examiners anymore.

[gargamel]

Originally Posted by The Yen Man

Man, this video would have been perfect if they played Yakety Sax.

Benny Hillifier Version

[HPLovecraft]

Stereotypes often hold some truth to them...

[HOZ]

Ummm breaks? There were more than 3 or 4 intersections there. As pointed out already...the best was the guy getting the slo-mo run down when just standing there.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by HOZ

Ummm breaks? There were more than 3 or 4 intersections there. As pointed out already...the best was the guy getting the slo-mo run down when just standing there.

That is perfectly explainable. Chinese people cannot walk a normal speed when crossing a street. Seriously, you could have a 20 year old Bruce Lee look a like super fit young Chinese man running down the sidewalk, and the second he steps onto a roadway to cross a street, he looks like a waify 90 year old grandma shuffling his feet hunched over, completely confused by his surroundings. Seriously. Next time you go through Chinatown, observe this phenomena. It is baffling.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by gargamel

Benny Hillifier Version

That website is the reason the internet was invented.

[kirant]

Considering it's pretty commonplace for 4 lanes to turn into 6-7 in China, this isn't the least bit surprising.

[burning_acid1]

Are people stupid? It looked like the majority of these incidents could have been avoided if people looked both ways before crossing. It didn't seem like the cars were exceeding 50 km/h

[Dan02]

You know it was funny up until they started showing the pedestrians being mowed down, then it became freaking hilarious,

[AvengeR]

Originally Posted by gargamel

Benny Hillifier Version

I've never laughed so hard. The Benny Hill theme song makes it 10x funnier.