Why I’m thinking of calling throwing in the driving towel here in China
Driving in China used to be fun, really it did, on the big up hills I could hit 120kph (dont tell anyone though, its 60kph limit within most city centers), on the flat stretches I did more, but now I cant go anywhere fast and the only thing that seems to be going fast is my heart beat and my hair line as I rage a little bit more about being stuck in yet another traffic jam.
All was well with the Chinese automotive world before 2008, you could speed, you could park where you want, and gasoline was bloody cheap at 5rmb a liter (although I can recall the glory days of 3rmb) but that all changed post 2008. 2008 was Chinas automotive awakening, the government slashed tax on sub 1.6L cars and people flocked to buy them, to slow them down in 2009 the government raised tax on sub 1.6L cars, but it didnt slow them down one bit, in fact they bought more cars than ever before, bigger ones too. The problem is, nobody really has any clue on what to do, where to go, or should they brake or should they go forward. Learning to drive in China is ridiculously easily, its so easy in fact that I did it myself, you see I learned to drive in the UK but arrived in China several months later and didnt drive again until my early 20s, considering I had virtually no driving experience and was about to have my UK license converted into a Chinese license which would let me legally take to the roads, I thought it best that I learn to drive from scratch in China.
It was a three month process, starting with a theory test that didnt make sense in English, I took the Chinese one and passed with 96% after failing the English one five times in a row, the English exam questions were random machine translated gibberish. Then it was onto actual practice driving, we did the reversing, we did the parallel parking, but we never did any road practice. The final driving test took part in the yard where we had practiced driving around in circles for months, I was advised to slip a box of expensive cigarettes into the side pocket of the passenger door where the testing policeman could easily slip them into his pocket, of course I passed no problem. It was all worthless preparation for taking to the most dangerous roads in the world. Still, it was an interesting social experiment and I did always want to work in the Chinese car industry, so I got the experience from a Chinese learner drivers point of view, and I’m fairly certain that I was among one of the first Lao Wai to actually learn to drive in China, if not the first.
Driving here is becoming worse every day, not just due to the poor attitude of drivers around you that only have an everyman for himself mentality and do not allow common courtesys such as letting people other drivers go first, but also due to the sheer number of cars that are taking to the roads. I used to spend 40 minutes in a traffic jam every morning going to university, the same commute on my bicycle took exactly seven minutes (granted, its all downhill and the return journey was nearer 40 minutes) but the journey after university required my use of the automobile. Over the past few months Ive thought long and hard about buying a new car, but I dont think its going to happen, my next vehicle is going to be a two wheeled fixed gear bicycle, which should prove to be much faster around town, at least until it is stolen.
I’m not sure what exactly is wrong, perhaps it is me (I recently edged another birthday closer to 30) or perhaps the number of cars on Chinese roads is reaching breaking point.
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you know why Chinese are buying cars like crazy?
Cuz they keep crashing them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcsZxUDWCXg&feature=related
the whole nation is full of commie blockheads!
AS is usual for this country, it is a multi-faceted problem. I don’t think there are too many cars out there, but until most drivers decide to drive in a more “civilized” manner it’s going to be a organized riot out there…..and that won’t change until there is more effective enforcement of the driving laws (yes, there ARE driving laws in China – hard to believe but true). Another issue….as more cars end up on the streets, the asphalt gets torn up faster and requires more repairs – and when the roads are being repaired it slows the traffic down. Asphalt companies will also try to save money and use cheaper materials, so the roads will needs repairs more often, slowing down the traffic even more! The end result is what we have now – insanity on the roads, especially in the biggest cities. In order to really fix it, many issues need to be addressed – and I don’t know if that’s going to happen here – at least not very quickly.
What a shame – my heart bleeds for you. By the way I think factors like clean air, non-toxic drinking water and safe food are deemed a little more important than a lifestyle of wanting to play Sterling Moss in country of 1-3billion fellow road-users. Way too many cars here – but now you’ve chose not to drive – hope you don’t get a vehicle or two stuck up your rectum as you now plod along on your daily business as a born-again pedestrian.
Come on Beijing – double the price of petrol – far more taxes on car sales. Lets get a bit of sanity onto the Chinese road system!!!!!
I spend 25 minutes trying to get out of a small parking lot because no one parked in a marked spot, no one wanted to let us out even though they wanted the parking spot, cars coming in the entrance and exit and no one wanted to move or back up. The everyman for himself attitude is a serious problem. The only way to fix it would be to start selling cars with a gun in the glove box.
Quality public transport implemented 3-5 years ago would have been a good topic in a former 5 year plan. Too bad there is more money in the car industry and there is a clear sense that public transport is only for poor people and needs to be subsidized by the government…
The result of the short road to easy money combined with lazyness is what we see here. Going forward this will be “cured” with even more lazyness and even shorter roads to easy money: higher taxation, higher fuel and parking prices, and, if governement finds some people to work for them, a congestion based tax system.
There are road laws, yes, just no enforcementand (some good old lazyness as well).
@ what a joke: people need mobility, and the only answer from goverment has been: car. Bike lanes etc have been removed as the car is what people needed to aspire to… here is the result.
Hope China will be able to increase its bus, subway, bike and pedestrial km’s in the coming years.
I have seen police give one ticket in the 6 years I have been here. Everyone knows where the cameras are and everyone knows how to get through a red light even if there are cameras. It is ridiculous. The only thing that will change it is putting some fear into the drivers. That can be done a few ways. Giving tickets like crazy or many road rage stories of violence in the news. A little bit of both would probably work the best.
I haven’t had any tickets this year, but I was stopped a few times this year for several different reasons but no tickets issued. I was stopped at a drunk checkpoint one night though http://qingdaonews.com/gb/content/2010-08/31/content_8471739_2.htm the last paragraph is me.
@ friend_from_korea
Your respectable friends from Japan are not that good either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kajPM4DVInM&feature=related
Traffic accidents are everywhere, there is no point to pick China specifically. I am sure Korea has similar shots at intersections as well.
Here we are talking about lifes of ordinary people, don’t make fun with them. Will you?
Giving tickets like crazy changes nothing! EVERYBODY here knows somebody in the Police who can tinker the system and takes the issued ticket out. Even I myself, modest foreigner in 3rd tier city have these contacts.
First this must be handled by truly independent people or better fully automated, manual override power only for out of town, better out of province police force!
What keeps you driving is the flexibilty if you go for the groceries, the out of town trips…you will not give it up. But better adjust yourself for the innertown trips. I got a motorbike, its fun, fast and gets me through every jam.
There are some decent bikes available locally nowadys.
Beni – Agreed, some of the new Shineray bikes are looking rather awesome, not cheap, but they do look cool. Now where do you learn how to ride a motorbike in China?
@ joninchina
Your point on road resurface is true. The heavier the traffics, the more repairs, the more holdups.
There is a solution to this problem. No more asphalt covered roads, all roads are concrete surfaced to withstand heavy traffics especially lorries, container trailers… Yes, it will not be comfortable to ride on these roads but I prefer this to traffic jams !!!
“Traffic accidents are everywhere, there is no point to pick China specifically.”
Yes there are traffic accidents occurring in other countries, but idiocy in both pedestrians and drivers in China is taken to a whole new level. Common sense would have prevented a lot of these, but then again we are talking about China.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AbFebGh8Rg
You’re buying a fixie? I don’t believe it!
The other factor is the rising cost of housing. A lot of younger folks have given up on trying to save for an apartment and have decided to by a car instead, even if it’s just so that they can “get out on the weekends”.
And for the unmarried guys, having a car and no apartment still looks better to a prospective bride than having no car and no apartment.
I agree with what Gerald has said; plus with a car reaching areas where housing is not so expensive becomes feasible. Even if you can’t buy a home now there’s a chance that your parents will sell off their home to finance the purchase of your new home when the time comes to marry.
If I were a single young Shanghainese man with a car I’d head out into the outlying areas for all sorts of mischief with the country lassies.
There may be relief:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2010-10/22/content_11448091.htm
Good idea. You should need a license to buy car, or turn car buying into a lottery, raise the prices of license plates.
Lower the price of gas, as this only affects the end consumer when food prices rise at the supermarket.
After going outside this morning I have given up this ridiculous notion of buying yet another bicycle for traveling around town on, it’s too cold now. I need a new car, another SUV, preferably one with six cylinders and heated seats.
You just need to live in a warmer city, Ash!! It’s 82(f) and beautiful in Nanning today, and even in the “winter” here I can still ride my bike as long as I’m double layered with long underwear. I know what fall and winter is like in northern China, I think I’ll just stay where I’m at!
82f = 27C, you need long underwear in 27C? Are you some sort of cold blooded sub Saharan lizard?