Bonk

I took this photo today of a truck plowing through a pedestrian walk, with pedestrians in it, just to show you what it's like crossing the street in Shanghai everyday. This is not unusual, in fact, you can count on it. Every driver does it. This is the first lesson a foreigner must learn as soon as he/she arrives in the city - or risk injury or worse.

When drivers prepare to take the drivers test in Shanghai they learn that drivers are required to give way to pedestrians - but this is but one of the myriad laws in China that are ignored. I'm convinced that the primary reason China has these laws is so the authorities can apply them retroactively - to have some basis to punish someone that has displeased them. Heaven knows that the police never proactively enforce the law requiring drivers to give pedestrians the right-of-way.

Last year when I was hit by a taxi driver while I was walking in a pedestrian crosswalk on a green pedestrian light the police initially told me that both I and the taxi driver were right. How could this be I demanded to know? The taxi driver turns left and drives across a crosswalk full of people crossing on a green pedestrian signal, hitting one, and he is right? "yes", said the officer. This is the sort of logic that drives foreigners crazy. You can find the same sort of thinking in the business world of China. It makes it very difficult for foreigners to succeed in China.

While foreigners may not understand why drivers in Shanghai drive like they do, it is primarily the Chinese pedestrians that suffer. And bike riders too. Also today, we were riding in a taxi that hit a electric-bike rider from behind - fortunately very slightly. What was odd however was that the taxi driver blamed the bike rider for letting him hit her. This photo was taken while she stood there and took his screaming abuse. The incident was entirely his fault - he was behind her and decided he wanted to turn right and knicked her as he did so.

Later today I bought a loud handheld horn, the kind with a bulb on it. Next time a taxi driver honks at me as he nearly bumps into to me in a crosswalk I'm going to stick the horn in his ear as he goes by and give it everything I've got. I'll let you know how that goes.