Crazy China Drivers

From the moment I got here, I knew China was very different.

It began with the car ride from the airport to my apartment.

I thought I was going to die.

 

No one follows traffic laws here.

Traffic signals are more like polite suggestions.

Suggestions that no one follows.

 

Cars regularly weave in and out of traffic, trying to get to their destination as fast as possible.

 

I was told that cars here are constantly having two things fixes: the breaks and the horn.

My first ride in a taxi reminded me way too much of the Indianna Jones ride at Disneyland.

 

In my 8 or 9 years of driving experience, I think I've only ever used my horn twice.

Here, drivers regularly drive with one hand always over the horn.

Taxi drivers are the worst, and probably hit their horn at least every thirty seconds.

 

Also, drivers tend to ignore all others on the road. They drive in between lanes, cut people off, and run through intersections.

 

The photo below shows a guy on a scooter who wouldn't let my driver go past because he insisted on driving down the middle of the lane.

This photo shows only a fraction of the many cars who were running a red light. A light that had already been red for a solid 10 seconds.

The most important rule for the roads here is regarding horns: the bigger the horn, the bigger the vehicle. If what you just heard sounds like the horn of a freight train, you better stop your car (even if you are the one with a green light) because odds are, a giant cement truck is headed your way, and he's just going to plow through the intersection.