All -

I know this is going to sound racist, and I apologize for that in advance, but

I am sure that any foreigner who has driven an automobile, motorbike or any type of vehicle, and I suspect many Chinese, has had similar experiences...

I cannot drive ONE BLOCK in Kunming without another driver doing something that is selfish, inconsiderate, and most important, DANGEROUS.

The most upsetting road situation I have been in is when a local, driving a mien boa che (a subject for another post) did a u-turn on a busy street nearly causing me to down my motorbike with my children on it and the police refused to ticket the guy because I did actually hit his vehicle.

So the question occurred to me the other day...

Do Kunming drivers know that they are being inconsiderate and dangerous and do not care or are they driving around in an ignorant bliss?

The follow on questions wold be...

If told they could serious injure someone if they continued to drive this way would they make an effort to be ore considerate and safe on the roads?

and/or

Would they consider further drivers education before endangering more people by continuing to drive?

Any way to put a survey out on this?

Have a good weekend and drive safely,

Jonathan

I am actually amazed that I don't see more accidents. The few I have seen are only scrapes or mild fender benders.

I agree that there is no concept of the vulnerable road user here.

But, and it is a big but here, the general rule is 'don't hit the guy in front'.

I used to be a motorcycle instructor, and we used to tell trainees "If you go out with the attitude that everyone else on the road is trying to kill you, you are in a better position to be safe".

I suspected that someone might bring up the low accident rate - which I cannot explain.

As far as the 'don't hit the guy in front of your rule' I believe that only applies when other people are following the traffic laws.'

I'm not convinced about the "low accident rate". A straw poll of my dozen 12-year old students today revealed that 10 of them had been involved in some sort of car/bike accident. And I see at least one accident every week on average, just in my local walking.

There seem to be a lot more serious accidents in the UK, by sheer weight of numbers. Driving here IS much slower, generally, and accidents are mostly very minor with no real damage done.

The comment about don't hit the guy in front is the unwritten rule, but seems to apply. Confession time: driving here I use the mirrors a lot less, because there is so much crazy stuff going on in front of me I don't have much time to use them. Fact.

There is also a wealth of stuff in the Chinese driving test about 'the courteous driver' (chortle).

Ultimately drivers here are more inconsiderate, but that is not about the driving culture specifically. Is it?

The "apparent" low accident rates in China does not mirror either China's own statistics or WHO studies. In fact, in both deaths per km driven or cars per road death China fares badly, and one WHO study found that 92% of car accidents causing injury or death were related to poor driving skills. I was listening to BBC a few weeks ago and one study summed up all road deaths in China from individual hospital records.The result was 3x higher than that recored by police for the same period. Was a figure somewhere around 300,000 fatalities, or nearly 1000 per day.

First, I'm sorry to read you feel so bad about Kunming drivers.

Second, I'm one of Kunming drivers. However, I think I'm considerate and not dangerous. I never drive fast (I'm a coward in streets I have to say). I also hate those "crazy" drivers, who always make me very stressful when I'm driving.
Third, I agree with tigertiger. That is not about the driving culture specifically. Sometimes we do not have rules while we should, and we do have strict rules while we shouldn't.

Kunming is a rural city - with the rural courtesies - everyone wants to be first - first to turn left in front of ongoing traffic, first to push their way to the front of the line, pushing their way into a conversation with a cashier, a waiter, a window service rep. The culture here is rude and crude - typical of rural dwellers.

Rural dwellers have been traditionally denied the benefits of the city dwellers, so tend to be pushy, rude, and quite assertive with either no fear of death, or just general apathy.

To compare driving to Beijing/Shanghai, USA, UK, Oz, etc is a formula for frustration, indignation, and eventually road rage. Becoming incensed because people here don't obey traffic rules is nice - but won't change a thing until the public security begins consistently enforcing traffic rules.

All drivers know to be cautious with the electric scooters, all scooter operators know to be cautious with autos - but the "me first" selfish uncouth attitude is prevalent, so try to go with the flow until the laws are more rigorously enforced.

I've always contended that Kunming can make a killing from traffic tickets - from the illegal u-turns, driving on the wrong side of the road (to get to the front of the traffic heap), to the ever irritating scooters driving all over the place. The only way to enforce traffic rules is to consistently enact fines and penalties - which is absent from the police duties at the moment, so try to find the humor.

FYI - My wife banned me from riding scooters, motorcycles, etc with or without the kids - it's an accident waiting to happen for those unfamiliar with the traffic culture. The only solution for now is to practice extraordinary defensive driving - as the other guy is really an imbecile (especially the ones who stop in the middle of the road while getting directions or whatever on the mobile phone.

And if you want sexist - very few women in Asia can drive a vehicle competently - the majority drive incompetently aka extremely dangerously. If you see a woman driver - you should expect her to do something idiotic - defensive driving.

Hi Jonathan you don't have to apologize because what you said is ture. I'm a Chinese driver myself. I'v seen so many selfish dangerous drivers on road. not only in Kunming but entire China. compared with other cities. Kunming drivers probably not the worst. I belive at least half of the road congestions are caused by drivers inconsiderate behavious.

"Third, I agree with tigertiger. That is not about the driving culture specifically."

True, its merely a microcosm of society here in general.