A Tougher Driving Test in China

[rogerluli]

It will come as no surprise to anyone here that the skill level of many Chinese drivers is abysmally low. My understanding of the previous driver's test consisted of loading up a vehicle with as many testees as it would hold, and then having each drive in a staright line for about 50 m.... "Congratulations, you passed"... Hopefully this is a move in the right (or left) direction before one of our own members becomes ROADKILL...

 

 

 

 

Tougher driving test to cut road toll

(Xinhua)

Updated: 2007-03-31 15:02

 

 

China's learner drivers will from Sunday have to sit a tougher license test aimed at checking the country's alarmingly high road death toll.

 

A spokesman with Ministry of Public Security said new regulations required learners to pass at least 10 out of 13 practical tests, which include changing lanes, traversing intersections and night driving.

 

"They will be evaluated on stricter and more specific criteria, " said the spokesman.

 

Applicants will also be tested on real roads with a single-way traffic flow of at least 60 cars per hour. Learners in mountainous areas will take additional tests on roads with tunnels, culverts and steep slopes.

 

"The new test will emphasize safety awareness," said the spokesman. "This will be considered more important than the driving skills alone."

 

Experts say a lack of safety awareness, flagrant violations of traffic rules and poor road etiquette are the major causes of traffic accidents in China.

 

China recorded 378,781 traffic accidents in 2006, with 89,455 deaths, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

[izus]

thats not even funny, alot of chinese drivers though bikers included are very skilled to drive on some of those busy roads.

 

i personally dont think i'd do too well....there'd be alot of road rage coming from my window.

maybe after a few accidents,

Edited April 4, 2007 by izus (see edit history)

[Dennis143]

China recorded 378,781 traffic accidents in 2006, with 89,455 deaths, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed.

 

http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/stats.html

 

I wonder if many auto accidents go unreported in China. Look at their accident to death ratio compared to the US's.

[bosco]

Ya got me with this one:

 

Experts say a lack of safety awareness, flagrant violations of traffic rules and poor road etiquette are the major causes of traffic accidents in China.

 

Ya think?!?

[toy_rn65]

China recorded 378,781 traffic accidents in 2006, with 89,455 deaths, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed.

 

http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/stats.html

 

I wonder if many auto accidents go unreported in China. Look at their accident to death ratio compared to the US's.

 

Hi Dennis

In the states every single accident is usually reported - injury or not - because of the law and insurance requirements. Here most non injury accidents and small injury accidents are settled on the spot with cash. Also, sorry can't document it, there was something in the news about the police encouraging motorists (sic) NOT to report small accidents because it was an inconvenience to the police.

 

 

 

In order to have a fair comparison, one has to look at the number of miles driven per death. I am sure it is much lower in the US.

 

Some local traffic departments in China have unwritten rule about encouraging people to sattle minor accidents privately. So that their cities would appear safer.

[david_dawei]

China recorded 378,781 traffic accidents in 2006, with 89,455 deaths, according to the Ministry of Public Security.

There were nearly 6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed.

 

http://www.car-accidents.com/pages/stats.html

 

I wonder if many auto accidents go unreported in China. Look at their accident to death ratio compared to the US's.

 

Hi Dennis

In the states every single accident is usually reported - injury or not - because of the law and insurance requirements. Here most non injury accidents and small injury accidents are settled on the spot with cash. Also, sorry can't document it, there was something in the news about the police encouraging motorists (sic) NOT to report small accidents because it was an inconvenience to the police.

Not true.

 

Under reporting of crashes in states is a major issue in traffic safety in the US. Those with injury, fatalities, or towaway are the most frequent to be reported for sure... Those who can drive away from the scene can exchange insurance info without police involvement... (I study crash data in conjunction with work with the states on under reporting issues).

[david_dawei]

Not true.

 

Under reporting of crashes in states is a major issue in traffic safety in the US. Those with injury, fatalities, or towaway are the most frequent to be reported for sure... Those who can drive away from the scene can exchange insurance info without police involvement... (I study crash data in conjunction with work with the states on under reporting issues).

 

 

OK, I can admit when I am wrong. I thought that insurance companies worked in conjunction with the police and reported these things for statistics.

I am not wrong about how it is in China though.

and I think your idea ("inconvenient to the police") holds true in the US.. as well as inconvenient to let one's insurance know since the rates will increase.. and so, people pay out of pocket often to avoid reporting anything.

Edited April 5, 2007 by DavidZixuan (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Not true.

 

Under reporting of crashes in states is a major issue in traffic safety in the US. Those with injury, fatalities, or towaway are the most frequent to be reported for sure... Those who can drive away from the scene can exchange insurance info without police involvement... (I study crash data in conjunction with work with the states on under reporting issues).

 

 

OK, I can admit when I am wrong. I thought that insurance companies worked in conjunction with the police and reported these things for statistics.

I am not wrong about how it is in China though.

and I think your idea ("inconvenient to the police") holds true in the US.. as well as inconvenient to let one's insurance know since the rates will increase.. and so, people pay out of pocket often to avoid reporting anything.

 

 

Isn't everything claimed on insurance "reported"? Here in Houston, if you can drive away from an accident, the police don't come out, but it is still reported to your insurance company, and usually a police report required.

 

I know that when switching insurance companies, the new company will know about anything claimed from the old.

[david_dawei]

Not true.

 

Under reporting of crashes in states is a major issue in traffic safety in the US. Those with injury, fatalities, or towaway are the most frequent to be reported for sure... Those who can drive away from the scene can exchange insurance info without police involvement... (I study crash data in conjunction with work with the states on under reporting issues).

 

 

OK, I can admit when I am wrong. I thought that insurance companies worked in conjunction with the police and reported these things for statistics.

I am not wrong about how it is in China though.

and I think your idea ("inconvenient to the police") holds true in the US.. as well as inconvenient to let one's insurance know since the rates will increase.. and so, people pay out of pocket often to avoid reporting anything.

 

 

Isn't everything claimed on insurance "reported"? Here in Houston, if you can drive away from an accident, the police don't come out, but it is still reported to your insurance company, and usually a police report required.

 

I know that when switching insurance companies, the new company will know about anything claimed from the old.

I cannot say by what state are accidents claimed on insurance (and never having a police report) are then "reported" by the insurance company or not. (I know I had an accident, no police involvement; but claimed it on insurance--in MA, it is no-fault... I don't know all the insurance issues).

 

I can only say that under-reporting is a really big problem... ergo, it gets through alot of cracks. Police don't want to do three pages of paperwork [on trivial stuff]; people don't want to tell their insurance, etc...

[bosco]

David said it but Randy seems to have missed it: MANY people do not report their accidents to their insurance either so the insurance doesn't know to report it to the police even if state law requires it.

 

My last three incidents as examples of why things are or are not reported:

 

1) Lost right front wheel assembly (defective tie-rod) on 3 week old 4Runner--car totalled. No fault determined but insurance cancelled me at renewal time anyway. New insurance (due to having been cancelled) went from $91 per month to $297 per month. That's $200 per month for 3 years until claim comes off insurance record -- total cost of no fault accident? $7200 (not counting the fact my insurance took three additional years to return to normal rates)

 

2) Two months to go before the above 3-year rate purgatory clears, I spun out on ice in the mountains. My choice: report to insurance and pay $1500 deductible and the $200 extra every month for another 3 years or $8700 total, or, pay the $4600 out of pocket and not let the insurance company know about it. Paid the $4600 and saved $4100.

 

3) Was hit by another vehicle. Their car was totalled and mine suffered $2700 damage. They wanted to avoid insurance. I'm not going to trust a stranger for that much money. I reported it.

 

 

So there are reasons and factors involved far exceeding reporting laws and requirements. My understanding is that MANY such non-reported accidents happen across the country every day and I've shown a couple of financial reasons people do avoid reporting. I'm sure there are many other reasons and many of you can probably give your own examples of them.

 

I would suspect that in a cash economy like much of the Chinese participate in, that only the worst accidents ever get reported at all. Here in China, people just deal and move on.

[Randy W]

I missed entirely - what was it I missed?? That seems like Insurance 101 to me.

 

If your rates go up because of an accident, why wouldn't you simply switch to another company that doesn't know about it? The answer is that your company DID report it, and the other companies know about it.

 

These are the accidents that go unreported in China, like you're saying, and that's why they have a lower reported rate.

 

I'm like you - I won't let a two vehicle accident go unreported, unless the damage is very small and I'm willing to pay for it.