Kids encouraged to salute traffic

[Kyle]

Education officials promoted the saluting edict to reduce traffic accidents and teach children courtesy.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/world/as...=1&ref=asia

 

I've been all over China. I can honestly say without a shadow-of-a-doubt that Wuhan wins the prize for the crappiest drivers in China. Most places in China, the drivers operate their vehicles with some sort of normalcy. On my personal web page, I actually made a list of issues I had with Wuhan traffic. It is as follows. If you're from Wuhan, don't give me grief because of my opinion, because YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!

 

 

The Basics of Wuhan traffic:

 

Red light = proceed with caution

 

Yellow light = go faster

 

Green light = maximum speed is acceptable

 

Honking your horn = Get out of my way

 

Honking your horn twice = Really, I’m serious ’cause I ain’t stopping

 

Honking your horn more than twice = You’ve reached the point of no return, you’d better jump.

 

Seriously, I’ve been studying the art of Chinese horn honking and there is a direct correlation between the amount of times the horn is pushed and the velocity of the car. Ok, back to my list. . .

 

Stop signs = Ha ha, just kidding

 

Double line = permitted to drive on the other side of the road no more than 30 seconds

 

Broken line = The road is truly yours. You may drive anywhere you want and in any direction.

 

Sidewalks = Rush hour lanes

 

Finally and most importantly, if a road has two lanes that means four cars can fit. General rule of thumb multiply the number of lanes by two. What? You think I’m joking? I’m not. I will say this, most cities in Ch!na, are not like mine when it comes to traffic. Beijing and other major cities drive at a much more normal pace.

 

Now, since I'm also a student and if I exercised the suggestion given by the school in the NY Times article, I'd probably cause more traffic wrecks than anything else.

 

One time walking home from school, a guy on a motorbike was driving towards me. Upon seeing ol' 老外 he kept driving in the opposite direction, never taking his eyes off me. He ended up running into a cement pole that was supporting some electrical wires. Trashed his bike up pretty good. The poor guy tried to get up, collect himself and his bike acting all nonchalant - my guess he was trying to save face. I helped him pick up his bike and other various belongings. After he shook my hand and drove off, I had myself a good laugh.

 

If I saluted the traffic in Wuhan, I'd suspect they would interpret it as an invitation to start gunnin' for me. I'll keep an eye on the situation in Huangping to see if they have any success. If they do, I'll encourage my connected father-in-law to start creating a similar policy that Wuhan can adopt. I sure do love China, but with every fiber of my being, I loathe the craziness of Wuhan traffic.

Edited October 26, 2009 by KJJ (see edit history)

[GDBILL]

Education officials promoted the saluting edict to reduce traffic accidents and teach children courtesy.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/world/as...=1&ref=asia

 

I've been all over China. I can honestly say without a shadow-of-a-doubt that Wuhan wins the prize for the crappiest drivers in China. Most places in China, the drivers operate their vehicles with some sort of normalcy. On my personal web page, I actually made a list of issues I had with Wuhan traffic. It is as follows. If you're from Wuhan, don't give me grief because of my opinion, because YOU KNOW IT'S TRUE!

 

 

The Basics of Wuhan traffic:

 

Red light = proceed with caution

 

Yellow light = go faster

 

Green light = maximum speed is acceptable

 

Honking your horn = Get out of my way

 

Honking your horn twice = Really, I¡¯m serious ¡¯cause I ain¡¯t stopping

 

Honking your horn more than twice = You¡¯ve reached the point of no return, you¡¯d better jump.

 

Seriously, I¡¯ve been studying the art of Chinese horn honking and there is a direct correlation between the amount of times the horn is pushed and the velocity of the car. Ok, back to my list. . .

 

Stop signs = Ha ha, just kidding

 

Double line = permitted to drive on the other side of the road no more than 30 seconds

 

Broken line = The road is truly yours. You may drive anywhere you want and in any direction.

 

Sidewalks = Rush hour lanes

 

Finally and most importantly, if a road has two lanes that means four cars can fit. General rule of thumb multiply the number of lanes by two. What? You think I¡¯m joking? I¡¯m not. I will say this, most cities in Ch!na, are not like mine when it comes to traffic. Beijing and other major cities drive at a much more normal pace.

 

Now, since I'm also a student and if I exercised the suggestion given by the school in the NY Times article, I'd probably cause more traffic wrecks than anything else.

 

One time walking home from school, a guy on a motorbike was driving towards me. Upon seeing ol' ÀÏÍâ he kept driving in the opposite direction, never taking his eyes off me. He ended up running into a cement pole that was supporting some electrical wires. Trashed his bike up pretty good. The poor guy tried to get up, collect himself and his bike acting all nonchalant - my guess he was trying to save face. I helped him pick up his bike and other various belongings. After he shook my hand and drove off, I had myself a good laugh.

 

If I saluted the traffic in Wuhan, I'd suspect they would interpret it as an invitation to start gunnin' for me. I'll keep an eye on the situation in Huangping to see if they have any success. If they do, I'll encourage my connected father-in-law to start creating a similar policy that Wuhan can adopt. I sure do love China, but with every fiber of my being, I loathe the craziness of Wuhan traffic.

 

My vote for the crappiest traffic and worst drivers is Guagzhou. I don't think any place else can hold a candle to it.

[Eric739]

I've been in Madrid, Paris, Austrian, Laotion, Cambodia and Vietnamese traffic. Madrid taxis drive as if they were the bull and you the matador, except you got no sword.

 

Nothing beats China traffic in general and the worst in China to me is Fushun.

 

A close second is Jamaica along the Montego mountain way. After that drive, I needed sedation.

[Kyle]

A close second is Jamaica along the Montego mountain way. After that drive, I needed sedation.

 

Yeah they are bad. Everyone down there is drinking Red Stripe.

Edited October 26, 2009 by KJJ (see edit history)

[chengdu4me]

Very few foreigners understand the rules of the road in China. They work on an entirely different premise than we do. The main rule is "First is right." If you are in the space first, you have the legal right of way. It doesn't matter that the car that you just pulled in front of was going much faster and didn't have enough room to stop before hitting you. If you do the hitting, you are at fault. Period.

 

Pretty much every thing here is a "failure to yield" issue. It is your responsibility to not hit anything. It is not anyone's responsibility to not get hit. If your front bumper puts a mark on any part of the other car, then you hit them. You are at fault.

 

I am in the middle of studying for my driver's test. Anyone that wants to see the test, PM me and I'll email it to you. There is no manual. They give you the test. They give you the answers.

[Stepbrow]

Very few foreigners understand the rules of the road in China. They work on an entirely different premise than we do. The main rule is "First is right." If you are in the space first, you have the legal right of way. It doesn't matter that the car that you just pulled in front of was going much faster and didn't have enough room to stop before hitting you. If you do the hitting, you are at fault. Period.

 

Pretty much every thing here is a "failure to yield" issue. It is your responsibility to not hit anything. It is not anyone's responsibility to not get hit. If your front bumper puts a mark on any part of the other car, then you hit them. You are at fault.

 

I am in the middle of studying for my driver's test. Anyone that wants to see the test, PM me and I'll email it to you. There is no manual. They give you the test. They give you the answers.

 

Oh, I thought that the rule was biggest has the right of way: Big truck, bus, little truck, car, motorcycle, moped, bicycle, pedestrian.

I haven't been to to many places in China, but I thought the drivers in Shenyang were much worse than Guangzhou.

Edited October 26, 2009 by Stepbrow (see edit history)

[Sam and Fen]

I've been in Madrid, Paris, Austrian, Laotion, Cambodia and Vietnamese traffic. Madrid taxis drive as if they were the bull and you the matador, except you got no sword.

 

Nothing beats China traffic in general and the worst in China to me is Fushun.

 

A close second is Jamaica along the Montego mountain way. After that drive, I needed sedation.

 

Wait till you see driving in a city called Bombay....China will look like a piece of cake...........trust me I grew up there and learnt to drive there.