Underage driving

Oh, thats a common thing here to have a baby/toddler sitting on drivers knees... seen it a few times!
K

From what I've seen of most of the local drivers and the way they handle a vehicle, I'll bet that the little guy could do as good a job as anyone else on the roads here.

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"I can't get no respect.............. no respect at all!"

So true !
saw a guy last week, on the phone and newspaper draped over the wheel coming out of the Ninxi side of the tunnel. I drive , looking 200 metres ahead at all times. I love the trucks that fly out of a building site or side road and don,t look, because they truly believe , you will stop , because they are bigger.Well !! I do brake !!

When I think back this was a common thing even in Australia until the 70s and safety consciousness started. Kids sitting on parents knees either the drivers or front seat passengers. You still occassionally see a child sitting on someones knee in the back seat even nowadays.

@Blue Moon:

Your comment about the trucks at the construction sites is what I call "The Law Of The Large". The law also applies to buses and big trucks on the highway. So with The Law Of The Large in full effect, guess who's at the bottom of the food chain? BTW, This is not unique to Zhuhai or China. I've seen the same thing in action in some places in the states, and even more so in Thailand.
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"I can't get no respect.............. no respect at all!"

@Chinamonty, that may have been the case mate but at least we were able to see the wrong before it got too out of hand.

It never ceases to amaze me. Having a child myself I am always conscious of her safety and insist that she wear a helmet at all times whenever she is on a bike. I will not allow her to sit in the front seat of any car or taxi and insist that she wears a seatbelt at all times, during those rare times when we have to travel in a car (taxi) with no seatbelt, I insist and hold her on my lap in the back seat, the whole time conscious of the drivers habits and I will yell at the (taxi) driver to slow down and take it easy if I feel he/she is tempting our fate! Some one once told me that the Chinese have a different mentality when it come to driving etc, that "fate" plays a part in it! I scoff at that; are you telling me that the only compassion a grieving relative is going to get is "It is ok, it was fate, your child was meant to fly through that windscreen!" I would not think so. I have said it before and I will say it again, the education system in this country is thwarted and some serious restructuring needs to be done! Road safety and education is part of mainstream education in most western countries and the Police are entrusted to enforce and uphold the laws. Perhaps there should be stricter laws and
stricter ways of enforcing them. Having a Traffic policeman stand outside the schools in the afternoon issuing tickets to those who do not put their kids into a proper child restraint would be the ideal way..but what do I know I'm just a crazy foreigner who does not understand China..LOL

How hard is it to put your child into a proper car safety seat?! (that is a rhetoric question). A new car costs how many thousands of RMB and yet they'd rather risk their child's life by opting not to buy a car seat (which costs how much?)! It is a bloody joke and it defies any logic what so ever!

Have you EVER seen child safety seats for sale here? I haven't.

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"I can't get no respect.............. no respect at all!"

@orrin Umm.. yes I have, most of them are manufactured here!
but wouldn't that be beside the point, I mean, at what cost or convenience of purchase do place on your child's life!

I realise I am a visitor here in China and maybe I should go with the flow, but I feel driver education here is extremely slack. I have a small car and really risk my life every day I drive to work. I am retraining my wife, how to drive carefully and respectfully, regardless of others doing opposite to her .
OK I was brought up in Australia, which has strict road rules, but when I see the stupidity here and the way my wife was taught, to get her license, it makes my feel sick. I dont think a life here is as valued and it will be, I feel ...60 years before China comes into line with other countries. I have been to Changsha and Wuhan...much worse than here.They need to time lights in unison not staggered. When you go shopping, half the time is spent at longggg lights.They give us 15seconds at Huafa New Town and its the only road out of here. What will it be like after Stage 4 is finished...so much for Town Planning!!
I wait on average 10-15 mins to get onto highway near my home and we have a policeman standing on a footpath. He does nothing. I see pedestrians , bikes, elec scooters all going against the lights . I always delay my take-off on the green light, because, more times than not, someone is scooting across against the light.
So I drive extremely carefully..only solution .(and Pray for all ! )

@GG:

Indeed, there may be child safety seats for sale here, but I’m absolutely sure that they are not the biggest selling item in the particular shop. Without going into a great deal of detail (about which I could write volumes), there is an almost total disregard for personal safety in just about every aspect of life here.

How many times have you seen a motor scooter speeding down the street, beeping its horn, with the driver wearing a cheap, flimsy helmet, and the 3 year old standing on the floor of the scooter wearing nothing more than a pair of shorts and a t-shirt? How many times have you seen someone out in front of a small shop operating a grinder, a welder, or a jackhammer while wearing a pair of shorts and sandals, and nothing else?

Local people, quite simply, don’t care!

After all, things like safety seats, safety glasses, gloves, safety cones, infrastructure maintenance, helmets, vapor masks, and other personal safety items or issues cost money; and those costs cut into profits. Cutting into profits (the politically correct, operative term for that now is “economic development”) is forbidden. Regrettably, that attitude spills over into peoples personal lives and habits as well.

Is there anything you or I can do to change that? HELL NO! The best we can do is to try, as best we can, to protect ourselves and our loved ones as we carry on day to day with our own lives.

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"I can't get no respect.............. no respect at all!"

@orrin True, but we're not talking uneducated locals here when it comes to car safety! And safety goggles etc would help prevent accidents which in turn would cut back on work related accidents, thus saving money in the long run. Don't you think?

I have to shake my head is disbelief when they look at my little girl with her helmet on and smile because they think "it's cute!"

GG wrote;
"@orrin True, but we're not talking uneducated locals here when it comes to car safety! And safety goggles etc would help prevent accidents which in turn would cut back on work related accidents, thus saving money in the long run. Don't you think?"

Indeed, I do agree. The problem is, unfortunately, that the “educated” locals don’t appear to have that type of long-term, strategic thinking or vision.

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"I can't get no respect.............. no respect at all!"

@orrin,
it is a shame hey.... maybe we should invite some of them into this forum in order to educate them a little...LOL

invite me sirs! invite me! PLEASE!

@orrin, are you going to get this one or shall I?...LOL

If any one else cares to way in please fell free, the troll(s) are out in force me thinks...!

@tailvrrey:
Consider yourself invited.:P

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"I can't get no respect.............. no respect at all!"

I hereby call this meeting to order... First point of order.. The lack of car safety in in China is a joke and something should be done!... The chair is now welcoming comments..

To add to the fire Chinese metal are sub standard to western country. Hence recent crash tested vehicle earn a outrageously low one star grade. Tester did point out failure in the structure integrity of the metal rather than design fault.

Suggestion#1
Instead of relying on mostly inoperable speed and stop light cameras, how about having the local "keystone cops" out on the streets enforcing the traffic laws instead of sleeping in their cars, or handing out parking tickets? I think that would be a good start.
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"I can't get no respect.............. no respect at all!"

Just think of all the revenue the police department could generate. You would think someone would have figured that out by now?

Yeah I have often wondered about this myself....

Have you seen the attempts on driver safety re-education ?

Its on the local TV stations, animated, usually sponsored by a car & mineral water Co, but I presume the gov't plays apart.

One ad a while back shows a glass bottle with bubbles trying to get out thru the narrow neck. Then they rewind & have the bubbles line up & get thru the neck easily. The ad was trying to tell drivers to give way to reduce traffic jams.

Another had a driver looking at a picture of his girlfriend & ends up in an accident. Then they rewind & show that he if he didn't he would be happily having dinner with her.

I think these cartoon ads are just a bit too sutle to get thru the heads of maniac drivers !!! What a waste of time & money !

I agree; but at the same time I'm convinced that the real solution to the problem lies far deeper than a few animated TV ads, no matter how graphic they are, can reach. Don't get me wrong, the TV ads are a good idea, but TV ads alone are not going solve the problem.

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"I can't get no respect.............. no respect at all!"

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