Quote:
Originally Posted by ES_TRADER
There's no regard for traffic laws in china. It's ever man, woman, motorcyclist, bicicle rider and pedestrian for themselves. In some parts of shanghai, it's crazy confusing too. You have to get on the far right lane to make a left turn and vice versa. It's like they built the roads and later on thought oh we should of put a turn lane there and they just shove it anywhere it fits.
I was getting out of a taxi once and the car stopped at the curb for me to get out. I open my door thinking its safe and a motorcycle crashes right into the door. He was ripping down the 2 foot gap between road and curb. Unbelievable this country
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i see this happen in China all the time! The crazy part, it's NOT the car drivers that's wreckless, it's the mopad and scooter drivers who are the MOST wreckless. They drive down the wrong side of the road, on sidewalks, and all sorts of crazy shit.
My aunt in China explained the physcology to me. Mopad and scooter drivers have a sense that their equipment is cheap and yet still protect them from crashes (which is true). The car drivers all have an incentive to keep their cars clean and dent free, so basically, the mopads and scooters are more daring and wreckless b/c it's asymmetric risk-reward outcome for those drivers. If they get hit by a car, they get compensated. If they hit cars themselves, they get away. If they hit bikes and pedestrians, they get away and with no injuries. Scooter all dented?...buy a new one, there's a scooter shop on every block!
But your first part is incorrect, the roads are designed well. It's just it can't keep up with the growing needs! I can't remember the numbers, but there's some whooping figure on how many NEW cars hit the streets in Beijing alone! Chinese road infrastructures in cities are all about 30 years or younger, but they just can't keep up with the car purchase growth. Hence why they have all sorts of restrictive permits in the major cities now.