Self-driving tourists in US draw criticism, warnings

A recent incident involving a Chinese family in a police chase on a California freeway has sparked discussion about Chinese tourists learning the rules of the road if they want to get behind the wheel in the US.

It all started on Sunday night when a Honda CR-V stopped in the middle of a freeway in San Diego and then sped off.

A police patrol car attempted to pull it over but the SUV did not yield to the police sirens, according to local media reports.

The vehicle finally came to a stop on the shoulder and a woman stepped out to the sight of police officers with their guns pulled, according to the footage of local 10 News.

The Chinese couple and their young son were vacationing in San Diego and didn't know they were supposed to pull over for police sirens because "they were not familiar with American traffic laws".

The chase didn't end with an arrest or even a citation, but rather a high-five between the boy and a police officer, who gave the child a couple of police badge stickers.

While some feel relieved by the happy ending and applaud San Diego police officers' kindness, others criticize the Chinese couple for their lack of awareness of the rules.

"Not familiar with American traffic laws? Please tell me in which country you can stop in the middle of a freeway," said an internet user under the name of "Genius and Dust" in a comment on qq.com, a major portal website in China.

"Now they lose face for all Chinese tourists. This family must have acted like this in China, too. Habit makes things natural," said another user named "Lanyangyang".

Some argue that this is the result of cultural differences.

'Good ending. Police in China usually don't pull over cars by sounding sirens. But the visitors should learn some basic rules before entering the country,'said Yan Shawn in a comment on YouTube, where the News 10 video of the incident has been viewed more than 22,000 times and generated over 30 comments.

It's not the first time Chinese tourists driving rental cars on US highways have made the headlines.

About two weeks ago, four Chinese tourists died in an accident in Arizona when their van collided with a Dallas Cowboys bus traveling in the opposite direction.

An initial police investigation determined that the van failed to yield the right-of-way at a stop sign and was struck by the bus.

Self-driving road trips have been popular with Chinese tourists in recent years. Rental car reservation platforms, such as zuzuche.com and ctrip.com, make it easy for Chinese tourists to make reservations and even provide Chinese-language GPS service to its customers traveling in the US.

California's Pacific Highway No 1, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and Hawaii are among the most popular destinations for self-driving Chinese tourists, according to Zuzuche and Ctrip.

'The traffic rules in China and the US are basically the same but the US' are stricter and more specific,' said Forrest Lin, a Guangzhou-based tourism operator. 'And drivers in China tend to ignore traffic rules.'

Chinese driver's licenses are recognized in California, but the biggest challenges come from language barriers and unfamiliarity with the traffic signs and laws in the US, according to Lin, who has been organizing road-trip tours in the US since 2008.

'To Chinese drivers, it's especially important to be more attentive to the rules and road conditions in the first two days,' he said. 'On an 18-day road trip, the drivers usually get the hang of it in the last 10 days.'

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com