| Jianshuo, in most foreign countries, by traffic law, the pedestrian has the supreme right as he IS the weak part, so no need for arguments about any incident. I think you are wrong on this. In China, only when the cars comes close to foreigners, the foreigner pedestrian can get REALLY angry on the careless cars some times. From the daily life in China : Today I was nearly hit by a Changan small minibus, coming behind me in the same direction as me (I was in fact walking in a pedestrian crossing :-) !!, and they just smiled at me, apologizing... Just five seconds later, a taxi crossed the double yellow lines of the same street in a left turn, and he hit a motorcycle driver, who tried to avoid the accident. The taxi was damaged in the front bumper (and perhaps more), and had to be removed by a car towing truck. The MC-driver had blood all over his left side of the face and on his hands, and was completely confused for about 3 minutes. Then he tried to rise and walk, but had to sit down again, I think his leg was broken. I simply pointed out to the passengers of the taxi, that the taxi had crossed the double yellow lines, and later I met a traffic police guy, he didn't see anything (why bother...) but when I approached him, he HAD to act, of course. Later, ½ an hour later, I saw that all was gone, exept that the taxi was town away. Funny, that I had to give the finger to the taxi driver, who didn't want to even get out of his car to see what had happened to the poor guy. Then he got out, but went mostly to me, and was eager to grab his mobile phone. No need to check the guy. :-( At the moment I am Huangdao for work, an KFQ zone near Qingdao at the moment. But not much different from Shanghai :-) And I'm driving my car here. (knock, knock, knock under the table) DO NEVER drive in China without a daredevil heart and a perfect insurance, and at least one chinese persone, who is able to back you up at any time !!! And take care everywhere in the traffic when you walk. |
Should I Drive in Shanghai?