Traffic Rules

[ionbeam]

I've been following a thread from a V4 group in which they have been discussing driving in China. A couple of members have been working in China and a couple of more are going over soon. The China V4 guys say that traffic lights don't mean a thing, that traffic lanes don't mean a thing. They say that there is just traffic FLOW, like water, and traffic will flow around vehicles like water around a rock. Well, here is some evidence that what they say is no BS:

Better than Boston Traffic.

 

[Scab]

Good gosh! It looks like an old Keystone cops flick. Reckon what the annual fatality rate is?

 

[rublenoon]

+10 on

what they say agrees with my experiences in China! :dribble:

there were many more bicycles than that video shows and four or five persons on a 250cc motorcycle

rublenoon

 

[stellarsteve]

It reminded me of looking down on an ant hill. All of them moving in different directions but nobody hitting each other.

But I wonder how many accidents there are in a given day?

 

[evil_henchman]

That's why I don't drive in San Francisco :lol:

 

[Bounce]

I spent 2 years in Korea. Many foreign countries (Asian and otherwise) are as described. The average traffic accident rate is very low in spite the apparent free-for-all as seen through the eyes of a "guest".

Part of it has to do with everyone driving defensively and not expecting the other guy to watch out for them. No one drives around in a fog, distracted and expecting others to avoid them. The other part is not everyone gets a drivers license. It's outside the range of affordability for many (sort of like the reason Germany's drivers are usually better than US drivers... they have to jump through some hoops to get a license). In some places it's not the licensing system, it's the basic cost of a car and its upkeep that can't be afforded.

I've frequently been at an intersection where 4 to 6 cars line up in a space where 2 lanes are defined. Once you get used to it, you adapt.

 

[user 2024]

I spent 2 years in Korea. Many foreign countries (Asian and otherwise) are as described. The average traffic accident rate is very low in spite the apparent free-for-all as seen through the eyes of a "guest".
Part of it has to do with everyone driving defensively and not expecting the other guy to watch out for them. No one drives around in a fog, distracted and expecting others to avoid them. The other part is not everyone gets a drivers license. It's outside the range of affordability for many (sort of like the reason Germany's drivers are usually better than US drivers... they have to jump through some hoops to get a license). In some places it's not the licensing system, it's the basic cost of a car and its upkeep that can't be afforded.

I've frequently been at an intersection where 4 to 6 cars line up in a space where 2 lanes are defined. Once you get used to it, you adapt.

+1 The fun begins when you get back to the states and you are still driving like you are in Korea! I have really freaked out some of my friends when I get back after extended trips overseas. :lol: