Law to improve road situation
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-05-02 08:59

"That is Survival of the Fittest", said Michaela Baur, a Sino-German project director who has worked in China for two years, when asked about her impression of the country's car drivers and the road situation.

"The stronger, the bigger and the faster car, can all the time be the first," Baur said. She is in China for a Sino-German Reintegration of Unemployed Women project based in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. "People don't follow the regulations really and there is a lot of confusion on the streets."

A traffic policeman checks the certificates of a bus driver in Yongchuan, Chongqing Municipality on May 1, 2004. [newsphoto]

China's first law on road traffic safety, taking effect as of May 1, is expected to improve the current road situation.

Baur is not alone in the awful experience. Her impression seems to be shared by lots of foreigners in China.

"It (the road) is the wild west here," said Gilbert De Swert, director of research department with Belgium Trade Union who came to Beijing for an employment forum last Friday, citing Chinese drivers are very "powerful".

"No rules!" he said. "Everybody must fight for himself. You have to drive with your elbows."

Otsuka from Japan has written about his "nightmare" on Chinese roads in an article. "Half of the drivers tend to drive in the middle of two lanes. Many drivers overtake other cars wherever they want, even with the sign of 'No Overtaking' overhead. A lot of them park their cars on the road wherever they feel like, even with lots of traffic already on the road."

"No wonder the accident rate remains high in China," wrote Otsuka in the article with concern. "With car boom going on, road accidents will claim more lives."

Statistics with the Ministry of Public Security testify Otsuka's concern. The road accidents claimed 104,372 lives in 2003, with 289 lives per day. Among related accidents, 71.6 percent took place due to drivers' fault.

The number of cars in China accounts for only 2 percent of the world total, but the death tolls on the road make up for 15 percent, the highest for 10 consecutive years.

The awful experience of foreigners was also echoed by local residents. Topics on the malpractice of drivers was discussed everywhere from the newspaper, TV to the Internet.

An Internet survey about the "Bad habits of drivers" conducted recently attracted over 20,000 netizens. Eight bad habits were listed. For example, Chinese drivers usually don't turn on the light before taking the turn and don't wait for the pedestrians to go first in the crossroads. They make the horns whenever they feel like, causing too much noise, and they drive fast on rainy days, spattering dirt water to pedestrians.

Duan Liren, a former chief engineer with the Beijing Road Traffic Management Bureau, said that the formation of bad driving habits could basically fall into three categories.

Some have formed the bad habits over a long-time driving experience and they are not aware of them, even when they break the rules. Some are not very familiar with the rules, as they have just become drivers from the recent car boom. A few are really overbearing, paying no attention to any regulation.

"For a long time, automotive vehicles belong to a prerogative class in Chinese society," said Duan. "Though car is becoming popular now, drivers still have a sense of superiority, seldom giving way to bicycle riders and pedestrians, and thus causing deadly accidents."

Duan said that some drivers always expect that they may escape from punishment, thus gradually forming bad habits. Some see their fellow drivers who break the rules don't get punishment, so they just follow suit.

As for how to get rid of the malpractice, foreigners living in China gave their suggestions.

"I think Chinese drivers have learned driving in the technical term, but haven't received enough education on the road regulation," said Swert. "The government should probably strengthen it."

"The policemen need to give strict punishment to the malpractice," said Baur, adding that the malpractice of pedestrians must be punished as well.

Wang Guoqing, a driver with 26 years of driving experience, said a good driver is actually the victim of the bad driving habits of others. "We do hope the regulation could be well practiced".

With the enaction of the new law, the malpractice of drivers will be punished severely and the rights of bicyclers and pedestrians will be better protected.

Qing Lianbin, a professor with the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said that the law is not adequate to solve all the problems, but the awareness to abideby the law of all the drivers may come as the final key for the problem.

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