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| The following seems to call for an introduction, but we couldn't decide on one, so we are taking the position that it is not needed. -ed. |
Chinese driving! It is a beautiful and exciting thing to see! Chinese drivers are actually the world's best, but Westerners typically cannot recognize it because, in our over-regimented, over-regulated system, good driving is considered to be primarilv a matter of obeying instructons on signs and light fixtures (called "traffic lights" that line the roadsides in ever-increasing numbers. The Chinese have always had better uses for their steel, aluminum, paint and electricity than cluttering the roads with these fixtures.
Westerners are often unnerved by watching Chinese driving and, naturally, in such a state, they are unable to observe competently, nor are they in any shape to he able to realize that, so they proceed to count their feelings as having the weight of a scientific conclusion. A simple test for a Westerner to see if he is prepared to evaluate Chinese driving at the basic level would he for him to try to cross a street in a Chinese city. It will test his understanding of the principles of motion.
The Westerner, as an armchair observer from his eighth-floor hotel window, will will see a multitude of bicyclists, cars, trucks and buses moving in a purposeful and harmonious flow with pedestrians crossing smoothly back and forth. Venturing onto the street, this same observer may find matters to be more complex than, from a distance, they appeared to he. He may have to apply his full concentration to navigate a street crossing without mishap, to himself or others, if he can accomplish it at all.
It seems fair to suppose that a person who, though others are crossing easily, can barely make it to the opposite curb--if he does make it--may not be qualified to evaluate Chinese driving.
P.S., to cross a busy street in China, position yourself beside a Chinese person (with that person between you and the approaching traffic), then do what that person does. - BC
Addendum, April, 2004. Even since the publication of the above article, the increase in private cars in China has been significant, putting a number of less experienced drivers on the road. Naturally, this causes some drop in the average skill level of Chinese drivers as a group. -ed.