In a previous post I mentioned that Beijing drivers are similar to Greek drivers. Well. That was while I was walking amongst them, not driving alongside them. Earlier this month, Jessi and I acquired a scooter and a bicycle, the usage of which has led me to reevaluate my judgement. Because here’s the thing…
a) Drivers (and pedestrians) here have no self-preservation instinct. People give precisely 0 fucks that they might run you over (which I get) but they are not any more generous with the fucks they give when you might run them over (I was going to write f***s, but then I realized that this kind of self-censoring is just bizarre – not to mention that it could be read as forks, foxes, faxes, fixes, fools, finns, fries, flies and more improbably (as it’s a rarer word), foins). Pedestrians will blithely walk in the middle of the street, totally oblivious to the cars, bikes and bicycles speeding around them. Drivers will go to against the flow of traffic totally unfazed, which brings me to…
b)… pointing out the following difference: in Greece, most people ignore the rules, but you can tell that they are aware of them, and choose to break them when they think they won’t be caught. Here, people seem to either not know the rules in the first place (even basic ones, such as on which side of the road they are supposed to drive), or they care so little that they don’t mind violating them in broad daylight, in front of thousands of other drivers or even in front of the police.
c) It’s well known that in most countries, most people rank themselves as above-average drivers. Most people claim that this is a paradox – a) it’s absolutely not in the first place, because, for example, if there are 10 drivers, 9 of whom are about the same level, and one is so bad he goes and gets himself killed, then of course the 9 drivers are all above average. It would be a paradox if most people thought they are better than the median driver, which brings me to b), that still wouldn’t be a paradox if the set of ranked drivers includes Beijing drivers. Basically, this is a convoluted way for me to say that Beijing drivers are terribly terrible, even when they are not oblivious to rules.
I almost never get dizzy – I have no problem sleeping in a turbulent flight, and I don’t get nausea sailing on a rough sea. A few months ago, I’d have said “I never get dizzy”. Now I say almost, because I’ve been in Beijing taxis.
Scooting and cycling around Beijing has confirmed my thesis: when you drive, you need to navigate around other drivers. To do this, most people assume that other drivers will make reasonable maneuvers themselves. You cannot operate on this logic in Beijing – if you do, you will very likely hit someone, as I almost did on several occasions. You can also not rely on people indicating, looking at their mirrors before making a u-turn or pulling out of their lane, or checking if anyone is about to overtake them before stopping in the middle of the road and opening their doors.
d) The only way to cope with all this is to suspend your road rage. If you don’t, you will get really angry and frustrated and will probably get hit by a bus. If you learn to just see the fun in the absurd way people operate here, you are still likely to get hit by something, but at least you will go smiling.
a) Drivers (and pedestrians) here have no self-preservation instinct. People give precisely 0 fucks that they might run you over (which I get) but they are not any more generous with the fucks they give when you might run them over (I was going to write f***s, but then I realized that this kind of self-censoring is just bizarre – not to mention that it could be read as forks, foxes, faxes, fixes, fools, finns, fries, flies and more improbably (as it’s a rarer word), foins). Pedestrians will blithely walk in the middle of the street, totally oblivious to the cars, bikes and bicycles speeding around them. Drivers will go to against the flow of traffic totally unfazed, which brings me to…
b)… pointing out the following difference: in Greece, most people ignore the rules, but you can tell that they are aware of them, and choose to break them when they think they won’t be caught. Here, people seem to either not know the rules in the first place (even basic ones, such as on which side of the road they are supposed to drive), or they care so little that they don’t mind violating them in broad daylight, in front of thousands of other drivers or even in front of the police.
c) It’s well known that in most countries, most people rank themselves as above-average drivers. Most people claim that this is a paradox – a) it’s absolutely not in the first place, because, for example, if there are 10 drivers, 9 of whom are about the same level, and one is so bad he goes and gets himself killed, then of course the 9 drivers are all above average. It would be a paradox if most people thought they are better than the median driver, which brings me to b), that still wouldn’t be a paradox if the set of ranked drivers includes Beijing drivers. Basically, this is a convoluted way for me to say that Beijing drivers are terribly terrible, even when they are not oblivious to rules.
I almost never get dizzy – I have no problem sleeping in a turbulent flight, and I don’t get nausea sailing on a rough sea. A few months ago, I’d have said “I never get dizzy”. Now I say almost, because I’ve been in Beijing taxis.
Scooting and cycling around Beijing has confirmed my thesis: when you drive, you need to navigate around other drivers. To do this, most people assume that other drivers will make reasonable maneuvers themselves. You cannot operate on this logic in Beijing – if you do, you will very likely hit someone, as I almost did on several occasions. You can also not rely on people indicating, looking at their mirrors before making a u-turn or pulling out of their lane, or checking if anyone is about to overtake them before stopping in the middle of the road and opening their doors.
d) The only way to cope with all this is to suspend your road rage. If you don’t, you will get really angry and frustrated and will probably get hit by a bus. If you learn to just see the fun in the absurd way people operate here, you are still likely to get hit by something, but at least you will go smiling.
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